Stocks Slip to Start the Week
October 23 2017 - 4:01PM
Dow Jones News
By Akane Otani and Riva Gold
-- U.S. stocks trade in narrow range
-- Nikkei on record streak after Japan elections
-- European stocks mostly higher
U.S. stocks slipped Monday after major indexes finished last
week with a trifecta of records.
A flurry of earnings reports released before the opening bell
sparked swings in individual stocks. With nearly 200 S&P 500
companies on this week's earnings calendar, according to FactSet,
analysts and investors expect corporate news to continue to drive
much of the action in the coming days.
"Listening to companies on their earnings calls, I think the
general trend is still looking pretty positive," said Jeremy Bryan,
a portfolio manager at Gradient Investments. While some sectors
like the insurance industry are expected to report weaker results
than in previous years, partially because of damage from hurricanes
earlier this year, "we're looking through the one-time hits and
still expecting robust growth into 2018," Mr. Bryan said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 15 points, or less than
0.1%, to 23313. The S&P 500 lost 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite
edged down 0.4%. All three indexes closed at fresh highs
Friday.
Hasbro shares shed 8.5% after the toy maker posted earnings and
sales results that beat analysts' expectations, but gave a downbeat
projection for sales in the key holiday period.
Shares of Mattel, a rival toy maker, dropped 3.5%.
State Street, which posted better-than-expected earnings but
reported foreign-exchange trading results that disappointed some
analysts, fell 2.9%.
General Electric slid 6.5% and was on track for its biggest
one-day percentage decline since 2011 after several analysts cut
their price targets for the stock following the company's latest
earnings report, which slashed 2017 projections.
Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.2% as gains in technology
companies offset declines in the banking sector.
Investors this week will be watching closely for the European
Central Bank's plans to announce the fate of its giant bond-buying
program at its meeting on Thursday.
This "may be a potential turning point in the timeline for
withdrawing accommodation," said Holly MacDonald, chief investment
strategist at Bessemer Trust, noting the European Central Bank is
facing constraints on continuing its program of quantitative
easing.
Still, with the decision well-telegraphed to markets and no
interest rate increase on the horizon for some time, the ECB's
October meeting is unlikely to ruffle bond markets much, she
said.
U.S. government bonds strengthened Monday, with the yield on the
benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note falling to 2.375% from 2.381%
on Friday. Yields fall as bond prices rise.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.1%, rounding out
its longest-ever winning streak with a 15th session of consecutive
gains, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a national
election by a landslide.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index reversed its opening gains to trade
down 0.6% as investors turned cautious on Chinese banks ahead of
their earnings releases this week and declines in property stocks
weighed on the index.
Write to Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com and Riva Gold at
riva.gold@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 23, 2017 15:46 ET (19:46 GMT)
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