Stocks Edge Lower Tuesday

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are slipping Tuesday morning as technology companies fall after President Donald Trump said he expects to put more tariffs on imports from China. That could increase the cost of products like laptops and smartphones. Other stocks are also lower after a strong gain the day before. Industrial conglomerate United Technologies is falling after saying it will split up into three smaller companies.

KEEPING SCORE The S&P 500 index lost 6 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,667 at 10 a.m. Eastern time. The index jumped 1.6 percent Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 127 points, or 0.5 percent, to 24,512. The Nasdaq composite dipped 13 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,069. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks slid 6 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,499.

MORE TARIFF TURMOIL FOR TECH: Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he expects to raise tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports on Jan. 1. That increase, already scheduled, will raise the tax rate on those products to 25 percent from 10 percent. Trump also threatened again to place tariffs on all remaining U.S. imports from China.

The administration's current tariffs have driven up costs for many businesses, but consumers haven't felt as much of a sting. Another round of tariffs on products like laptops and computers would change that. Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Group of 20 summit in Argentina later this week.

Apple gave up 1.2 percent to $172.55, and chipmakers also fell. Intel fell 1.4 percent to $46.74 and Microchip Technology lost 2.4 percent to $73.93.

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Apple stock has fallen 26 percent since early October, a drop that wiped out almost $300 billion in value. Apple and Microsoft are now essentially tied for the title of the most valuable publicly traded company in the world. Microsoft hasn't done any worse than the rest of the stock market in October and November and it was unchanged at $106.47 Tuesday. Apple's current market value is about $819 billion to $817 billion for Microsoft.

NO LONGER UNITED: United Technologies said it will split into three companies now that it has finished its $23 billion purchase of aviation electronics maker Rockwell Collins. The company's aerospace and defense industry business will keep the United Technologies name, while its Otis elevator business and Carrier air conditioner and building systems unit will become separate companies.

The stock fell 6.1 percent to $120.16.

BRISTOL BRUISED: Bristol-Myers Squibb fell after it reported disappointing results from a cancer drug study. The company said the combination of its drugs Yervoy and Opdivo did not impose survival for patients with small cell lung cancer. Bristol-Myers was studying the drug as a maintenance therapy for patients who had already finished a round of chemotherapy.

The stock shed 4.6 percent to $50.32.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 0.4 percent to $51.85 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.3 percent to $60.64 a barrel in London.

BONDS: Bond prices edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.06 percent from 3.07 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar edged up to 113.67 yen from 113.64 yen. The euro felt to $1.1303 from $1.1328.

OVERSEAS: Germany's DAX fell 0.2 percent and the British FTSE 100 slid 0.4 percent. In France, the CAC 40 lost 0.3 percent.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.6 percent and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.8 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 0.3 percent.

(BE)

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