Stocks Mixed at Midday Tuesday

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are mixed Tuesday after posting solid gains over the last two days. Technology companies and consumer-focused companies rose further and the smallest companies were also making gains. Banks slipped as bond yields decreased and health care companies also fell. Twitter rose after being added to the S&P 500 index.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 lost 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,744 as of 1 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 51 points, or 0.2 percent, to 24,762. The Nasdaq composite rose 12 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,618 and the Russell 2000 climbed 4 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,658.

The Nasdaq, which includes a heavy weighting of technology companies, and the Russell, an index comprised of smaller and more U.S.-focused companies, both finished at record highs Monday. The S&P 500 is still 4.5 percent off the record it set on Jan. 26, and the Dow is 7 percent below the mark it set the same day.

BITTER BREW: Starbucks fell after Howard Schultz said he's stepping down as the coffee chain's chairman. Schultz has been chairman of the company since 2000 and oversaw enormous expansion for Starbucks over that time. He stepped away as CEO in 2000 but returned in 2008, and relinquished that title to Kevin Johnson in 2017. The stock lost 2.4 percent to $55.72.

ENERGY: Oil prices were mixed. Crude recently hit a three-year high but has declined sharply over the past two weeks. U.S. crude picked up 0.6 percent to $65.17 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 0.5 percent to $74.94 a barrel in London.

U.S. crude has fallen 10 percent since it peaked at just over $72 a barrel on May 21.

FAV and RT: S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Monday that Twitter will be added to the benchmark S&P 500 index as of Thursday after Monsanto officially becomes part of Bayer. Twitter rose 5.2 percent to $39.83. Netflix, which will become part of the S&P 100 index, rose 1.2 percent to $366.23.

BONDS: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.91 percent from 2.94 percent.

Financial companies fell in tandem with bond yields. Lower yields force interest rates down on mortgages and other kinds of loans, which means lower profits for banks. Morgan Stanley lost 1.1 percent to $50.97 and Capital One gave up 1.6 percent to $93.92.

RETAIL ROUNDUP: Retailers were in focus as more of them reported their latest quarterly results. G-III Apparel Group climbed 9.9 percent to $47.11 after it raised its annual profit and sales forecast following a strong first quarter. Ascena Retail and Francesca's both shook off an early losses. Ascena picked up 6.6 percent to $3.90 and Francesca's added 7.5 percent to $6.55. Genesco skidded 9.5 percent to $40.73 after it reported weak sales.

Other retailers and consumer-focused companies also rose. Amazon was on track for another record high as it rose 1.2 percent to $1,685.21 while Target gained 2.3 percent to $78.14 and Macy's jumped 6.7 percent to $39.58.

TECH LEADERS: Chipmaker Texas instruments added 1.2 percent to $117.16 and eBay gained 3.1 percent to $40.28. Apple, which also set record highs Monday, continued to climb. Apple advanced 0.6 percent to $193.02.

BIOTECH BOOST: Mylan climbed 5.6 percent to $40.66 after federal regulators approved its version of Amgen's anti-infection drug Neulasta. The Mylan drug, Fulphila, is called a biosimilar, meaning it's the generic equivalent of a complex biotech drug, and it's approved to reduce the risks of infections during treatment for cancer. Amgen lost 2.5 percent to $180.86.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 109.61 yen from 109.58 yen. The euro rose to $1.724 from $1.1719.

OVERSEAS: Germany's DAX rose 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 dipped 0.2 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.7 percent.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.3 percent and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.3 percent. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng rose 0.3 percent.

(BE)