Tech Gains, Industrials Slide

NEW YORK (AP) --- U.S. stock indexes are little changed Monday after an early gain evaporated. Boeing and other industrial companies gave back some of the ground they won on Friday. Banks are also lower, while technology companies continue to rise. Stocks are coming off their biggest gain in a month following a monthly jobs report that showed strong hiring and moderate growth in wages.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index stayed at 2,786 as of 1:10 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 136 points, or 0.5 percent, to 25,199. Almost all of that loss came from three industrial stocks: Boeing, Caterpillar and United Technologies. The Nasdaq composite added 44 points, or 0.6 percent, to 7,605. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks rose 3 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,601.

Most of the stocks on the New York Stock Exchange were trading higher.

The Nasdaq closed at a record high Friday thanks to a surge for technology companies. The S&P 500 is at its highest since Feb. 1. That means it has recovered the losses it suffered following the government's January jobs report, which showed a surprise spike in hourly wages. Wall Street worried that that might be the start of faster inflation.

The February jobs report, which came out on Friday, eased investors' minds, and stocks made their biggest gain in a month.

ALL EYES ON TECH: Optical communications company Oclaro surged after it agreed to be bought by optical networking company Lumentum Holdings. The deal values Oclaro at $9.99 a share, or $1.69 billion, and its stock gained $2.13, or 27.2 percent, to $9.99. Lumentum also rose $4.03, or 5.8 percent, to $73.

Late Friday the Wall Street Journal reported that Intel might try to buy rival Broadcom. Broadcom is trying to buy a third chipmaker, Qualcomm, for $117 billion, and the Journal said that if that deal appears to be moving forward, Intel will consider respondes that could include an attempt to buy Broadcom. It could also attempt a smaller deal.

Broadcom jumped $8.46, or 3.3 percent, to $262.24 while Intel fell 87 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $51.32. Qualcomm added 16 cents to $63.19.

Other tech companies climbed as well. Apple advanced $1.89, or 1.1 percent, to $181.87 and chipmaker Micron Technology jumped $6.02, or 11 percent, to $60.61.

DOWN INDUSTRIALS: Industrial companies like aerospace and defense firms fell after a big gain on Friday. Boeing shed $9.17, or 2.6 percent, to $345.35 and Lockheed Martin lost $4.94, or 1.5 percent, to $335.55. Construction equipment maker Caterpillar dipped $3.17, or 2 percent, to $155.08.

CHANGE AT THE TOP: Goldman Sachs said David Solomon will become its sole president and chief operating officer, clearing the way for Solomon to become the firm's next CEO. Solomon and Harvey Schwartz had shared both job titles, but the company says Schwartz will retire next month. Last week the Wall Street Journal said CEO Lloyd Blankfein could retire as soon as the end of this year, and that Solomon and Schwartz were the only two candidates to replace him.

Goldman's stock gained $1.95 to $272.72.

DowDuPont slid 88 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $71.35 after the company said CEO Andrew Liveris will depart in July. He ran Dow Chemical for 14 years up through its combination with DuPont last year. Liveris planned to retire by mid-2017, but that was delayed as the company looked for a new head of its materials science business. Jim Fitterling was named to that role while Jeff Fettig will become DowDuPont's new chairman.

DowDuPont ultimately plans to break up into three companies.

INFLATION INDICATORS: Investors are likely to focus on possible signs of inflation as the Labor Department reports data on consumer prices Tuesday and producer prices on Wednesday. Prices paid by consumers jumped in January as the cost of clothing, housing and car insurance increased. Producer prices, which measure the cost of goods before they reach the consumer, also increased last month.

BATTERIES INCLUDED: Johnson Controls climbed early on after it said it will consider selling its power solutions business, which makes batteries for vehicles among other products. That business brought in $7.3 billion in revenue in the company's latest fiscal year, while Johnson Controls got more than $22 billion in adjusted revenue from its main business, which makes heating and ventilation systems for buildings and other systems.

The stock rose as much as 2.5 percent, but later rose 6 cents to $38.60.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude declined $1.02, or 1.6 percent, to $61.02 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 91 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $64.58 a barrel in London.

BONDS: Bond prices edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dipped to 2.88 percent from 2.90 percent.

CURRENCY: The dollar slid to 106.54 yen from 106.77 yen late Friday. The euro rose to $1.2316 from $1.2313.

OVERSEAS: The German DAX rose 0.6 percent and France's CAC 40 added 0.4 percent. In London, the FTSE 100 lost 0.1 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 added 1.6 percent and the Hang Seng of Hong Kong jumped 1.9 percent. The Kospi in South Korea gained 1 percent.

(BE)