Tech, Consumer-Focused Companies Rise
NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are mixed Tuesday as consumer-focused companies like Netflix and Amazon climb while household goods makers including Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble sink following disappointing quarterly reports. Bond yields are down after rising to three-year highs in the last few days. That's helping high-dividend companies like utilities.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 5 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,838 as of noon Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 86 points to 26.205. The 30-stock index was pulled lower by losses from Johnson & Johnson, Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble as well as Boeing. The Nasdaq composite jumped 41 points, or 0.6 percent, to 7,494. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks was unchanged at 1,605.
Most stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange were trading higher.
EVERYBODY'S WATCHING: Netflix said it picked up 8.3 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, a much stronger result than the company and analysts had expected. That came even though Netflix raised the price of its most popular plan in the U.S. The streaming video company's stock soared $24.57, or 10.8 percent, to $252.15.
TARIFFS: U.S. solar power companies rose after President Donald Trump approved tariffs on imported solar-energy components in a step intended to help U.S. manufacturers. The tariffs start at 30 percent and they're aimed at cheaper imports places like South Korea and China, which called the measures an abuse of trade remedies.
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Vivint Solar added 23 cents, or 6.3 percent, to $3.78 and First Solar added 34 cents to $69.30. JinkoSolar Holdings sank $1.48, or 6.3 percent, to $21.89 and Canadian Solar declined 27 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $15.50.
The administration also placed a tariff of 50 percent on large washing machines and some components. Whirlpool climbed $4.25, or 2.6 percent, to $170.90.
CONSUMER GOODS: Johnson & Johnson lost more than $10 billion in the latest quarter as it took a big charge related to the recent U.S. tax overhaul. And Wall Street was concerned the health care giant also reported sharply higher spending on production, marketing, administration and research, offsetting a big jump in sales. Its stock shed $3.75 or 2.5 percent, to $144.39.
Tide detergent maker Procter & Gamble lost $2.68, or 2.9 percent, to $89.21. The company reported a bigger profit and better sales than Wall Street expected, but analysts said its profit margins were weak.
Rival Kimberly-Clark moved higher after it said it will cut 5,000 to 5,500 jobs, or 12 percent to 13 percent of its staff. The maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissue will also end or sell some low-margin businesses and said it wants to reduce costs. It will also close or sell about 10 manufacturing facilities and expand production elsewhere. Its stock added 34 cents to $117.25.
BONDS: Bond prices turned higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.62 percent from 2.66 percent. For the last few days, the 10-year yield has been at its highest level since September 2014.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 87 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $64.44 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 89 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $69.92 a barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar slid to 110.36 yen from 110.99 yen. The euro edged up to $1.2283 from $1.2258.
GLOBAL GROWTH: The International Monetary Fund estimated that the world economy expanded at a 3.7 percent annual pace last year, the fastest since 2011, and said it believes growth will accelerate to 3.9 percent in 2018-19. The IMF noted surprisingly strong growth in Europe and Asia and predicted that U.S. tax cuts will give the American economy a short-term boost.
Germany's DAX climbed 0.7 percent and the British FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent. France's CAC 40 fell 0.2 percent.
Bank of Japan policymakers did not make any changes to the central bank's monetary stimulus even though growth in Asia's second-biggest economy has ticked higher. They will continue making massive asset purchases and using negative interest policy to spur inflation. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.3 percent and South Korea's Kospi advanced 1.4 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.7 percent.
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