Stocks Little Changed Early Friday
(AP) -- U.S. stock indexes were little changed in early trading Friday, a day after the Dow Jones industrials closed above 24,000 points for the first time. Technology companies, still the biggest winners in the year to date, slumped. Energy stocks led the gainers as the price of crude oil rose.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose less than 1 point to 2,648 as of 10:25 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones industrial average was little changed at 24,275. The Nasdaq composite slid 7 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,865. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 7 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,537. More stocks rose than fell on the New York Stock Exchange.
TAX CUTS: Investors were keeping an eye on Washington as Republicans moved to make major changes to their proposed tax overhaul package ahead of a vote Friday. Among the changes aimed at appeasing deficit hawks is a rollback of some of the tax cuts after six years. The legislation is expected to add $1 trillion to the nation's deficit over 10 years. It would also slash the corporate tax rate, offer more modest cuts for families and individuals and eliminate several popular deductions.
TECH SLIDE: The technology sector, an investor favorite since the beginning of the year, had some of the biggest losses. Qorvo fell $2.58, or 3.4 percent, to $74.
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NOT QUITE YET: Qualcomm declined 1.2 percent after Bloomberg News reported that Broadcom, a rival chipmaker, won't make a new offer for the company until next year. Qualcomm fell 82 cents to $65.52. Broadcom lost $9.70, or 3.5 percent, to $268.24.
UGLY OUTLOOK: Ulta Beauty slid 4.8 percent after the beauty products retailer issued a disappointing forecast for the current quarter that overshadowed solid third-quarter results. The stock lost $10.67 to $211.04.
NEW RECIPE: Meal kit maker Blue Apron climbed 4.8 percent after it named a new CEO. The company has struggled since its initial public offering in June. The stock rose 14 cents to $3.14.
OIL SURGES: Benchmark U.S. crude New York rose $1.35, or 2.4 percent, to $58.75 a barrel. Brent, the international standard, rose $1.55, or 2.4 percent, to $64.15 a barrel. On Thursday, the OPEC cartel and a group of allied oil-producing nations agreed to extend output cuts until the end of next year.
The pickup in oil prices helped lift energy stocks. Hess climbed $1.43, or 3.1 percent, to $47.31.
BONDS: Bond prices didn't move much. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 2.41 percent.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 112.66 yen from 112.53 yen on Thursday. The euro weakened to $1.1867 from $1.1896.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: Major stock indexes in Europe were mixed. Germany's DAX was down 0.1 percent, while France's CAC 40 fell 0.1 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was 0.2 percent higher. Indexes in Asia finished were also mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 percent. South Korea's Kospi fell less than 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.4 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3 percent.
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