Stocks Down: Banks, Industrials Fall

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are lower Thursday morning as losses from the previous day continue. Banks and industrial companies are slipping. Companies including Hanesbrands, Yelp and Roomba maker iRobot are down sharply following disappointing quarterly reports, but Twitter is soaring after it reported a quarterly profit for the first time. Bond prices are falling and yields are rising.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 12 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,669 as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 146 points, or 0.6 percent, to 24,755. The Nasdaq composite fell 19 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,032.

Stocks have wavered between big gains and sharp losses over the last two days. The S&P 500 fell four of the previous five days, and is down 7.1 percent from the record high it set Jan. 26.

EARNINGS: Investors turned their attention to more fourth-quarter company earnings reports. While U.S. companies mostly did well at the end of 2018, several prominent companies had a disappointing finish to the year and they traded lower Thursday.

Underwear, T-shirt and sock maker Hanesbrands disclosed a smaller profit than investors expected, and its forecast for the current year didn't live up to analysts' estimates either. Its stock lost $2.28, or 10.4 percent, to $19.68.

IRobot also projected a smaller annual profit than Wall Street had hoped, and its stock gave up $22.59, or 25.7 percent, to $65.31.

Twitter climbed after it turned a profit for the first time, and its fourth-quarter revenue was better than expected. The stock rose $6.28, or 23.3 percent, to $33.19, the highest price for Twitter stock in two and a half years.

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Online delivery company GrubHub soared after it announced a partnership with Yum Brands, the parent of Taco Bell and KFC. GrubHub will provide the delivery people and technology to let people order food from those restaurants. GrubHub jumped $19.20, or 27.5 percent, to $89.12, while Yum Brands picked up 60 cents to $80.73.

Amazon will start offering delivery from its Whole Foods grocery stores, a move investors have expected since Amazon bought the company in June. Amazon Prime subscribers will be able to get groceries delivered in two hours. Amazon edged up $3.32 to $1,420.10.

BONDS: Bond prices headed lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.88 percent from 2.84 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar edged down to 109.41 yen from 109.42 yen. The euro rose to $1.2285 from $1.2276.

ENERGY: After a sharp loss Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude lost was unchanged at $61.79 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard for oil prices, lost 27 cents to $65.24 per barrel in London.

OVERSEAS: Stocks in Europe declined and bond yields increased after the Bank of England said could raise interest rates in coming months because of the strong global economy. That also sent the pound higher. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.8 percent. Germany's DAX declined 1.1 percent.

In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 index rose 1.1 percent. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.5 percent and the Hang Seng of Hong Kong rose 0.4 percent.

(CZ)