Stocks Lower After Big Monday Gains
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks are mostly falling Tuesday morning as investors sift through new economic reports and earnings results. Utilities, consumer goods companies and banks fell the most after the market made sizable gains the day before. Wal-Mart Stores and JPMorgan Chase each dropped 1 percent, among the biggest declines in the Dow Jones industrial average.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow fell 88 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,622 as of 10:11 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell nine points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,057. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 19 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,756.
TECH GAIN: Agilent Technologies rose $1.84, or 4.3 percent, to $44.78 after the maker of scientific instruments reported second-quarter results that were better than expected. Earnings per share, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 44 cents versus the 39 cents analysts expected.
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RETAILER RISES AGAIN: TJX Cos. rose 82, or 1.1 percent, to $76.01 after reporting first-quarter earnings of 76 cents per share, six cents more than analysts had expected. The owner of TJ Maxx stores and Marshalls also reported higher-than-expected sales. The stock is up 7 percent since the start of 2016.
INFLATION WATCH: U.S. consumer prices jumped in 0.4 percent in April compared with the month before, the largest amount in more than three years. Excluding the impact of volatile food and energy prices, core inflation posted a modest gain. Compared with the year before, overall prices rose 1.1 percent. Low inflation gives the Federal Reserve flexibility to keep interest rates at ultra-low levels.
MAKING MORE THINGS: U.S. industrial production posted the biggest increase in April since November 2014 as utility output surged. Industrial output, which includes factories, mines and utilities, rose 0.7 percent from March. It had dropped the previous two months.
MORE HOMES, TOO: Builders ramped up construction of new homes in April, suggesting the market remains solid despite sluggish economic growth. Housing starts climbed 6.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million units. The increase makes up for much of March's 9.4 percent drop in starts.
EUROPE'S DAY: France's CAC 40 fell 0.8 percent, while Germany's DAX shed 1 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.1 percent.
ASIA'S DAY: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.1 percent as the yen continued to weaken, a plus for Japanese exporters. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.7 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.2 percent.
ENERGY: U.S. crude rose 41 cents to $48.13 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 31 cents to $49.28 a barrel in London.
BONDS AND CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices didn't move much. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 1.75 percent. The dollar rose to 109.02 yen from 108.98 yen and the euro rose to $1.1338 from $1.1320.
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