Stocks Slide With Industrials
NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks continue to skid Friday morning as industrial companies fall after a weak report from farm equipment giant Deere. Banks are also down as bond yields continue to slide, and sporting goods companies continue to take sharp losses as investors did not like what they heard from Foot Locker and Hibbett Sports. European markets continue to decline after terrorist attacks in Spain. Stocks are coming off their biggest loss in three months.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index sank 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,425 as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 50 points, or 0.2 percent, to 21,669. The Nasdaq composite gave up 15 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,206. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks declined 6 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,352.
On Thursday stocks took their second-biggest loss of 2017. Investors were troubled by a pair of deadly car attacks in Spain, which killed a combined 14 people, and stocks in the U.S. traded lower as investors expected the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates more slowly than previously anticipated. Wall Street also became more pessimistic about President Donald Trump's proposals for infrastructure spending. Late Thursday the White House said it abandoned plans to form an infrastructure advisory council.
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NO, DEERE: Deere tumbled after its sales in the fiscal third quarter came in lower than investors hoped. The company's profit got a large boost after the company sold some of its stake in SiteOne Landscape Supply, and analysts said they were disappointed with the company's equipment sales. The stock dropped $10.64, or 8.6 percent, to $113.34. Other industrial companies also stumbled. General Electric dipped 15 cents to $24.60 and Honeywell lost 74 cents to $135.11.
BLOWING THE WHISTLE: Athletic gear retailer Foot Locker plunged $11.70, or 24.5 percent, to $36 percent after a weak quarter. The company said some high-priced sneakers didn't sell as well as it hoped, and there aren't a lot of exciting new shoes on the market. It doesn't expect that problem to clear up in the next few quarters. Foot Locker now plans to close at least 135 stores, up from its previous forecast of 100.
Hibbett Sports cut its annual forecasts and its stock tumbled $1.93, or 16.7 percent, to $9.57. Foot Locker is down 49 percent this year and Hibbett has lost 74 percent.
Sporting goods retailers and apparel makers have nosedived this week after a disappointing report from Dick's Sporting Goods. Friday morning, Nike sank $3.02, or 5.3 percent, to $54.44 and Under Armour shed 76 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $17.05.
SEEKING SAFETY: Bond prices rose further. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.18 from 2.19 percent. Gold rose to its highest price since right before the U.S. presidential election. It gained 0.8 percent at $1,302.30 an ounce.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 108.64 yen from 109.67 yen. The euro edged up to $1.1745 from $1.1742.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude oil lost 16 cents at $46.93 a barrel in New York. Brent, the international standard, shed 16 cents to $50.86 a barrel in London.
OVERSEAS: The British FTSE 100 index declined 1.1 percent while France's CAC 40 fell 1.2 percent. Germany's DAX was down 0.5 percent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 1.2 percent and the Kospi in South Korea shed 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1.1 percent.
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