Indexes mixed; stocks wobble as earlier gains slip away
Traders and financial professionals work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 2. Credit: Getty Images / Drew Angerer
Stocks finished mostly lower Thursday in another choppy day of trading after a midday rally faded. Industrial and technology companies rose, but smaller companies and chemical makers skidded.
Without any major economic reports or further development on issues like tariffs, stocks drifted up and down. The market was coming off two days of losses, and while stocks briefly moved higher in the middle of the day, they couldn’t sustain any momentum.
Agribusiness company Monsanto fell after Bloomberg reported U.S. authorities have concerns about its sale to Bayer and might order Bayer to sell more assets. Toymakers Hasbro and Mattel sagged as Toys R Us moved toward shuttering its U.S. stores.
Industrial companies bounced back after three days of declines that stemmed from worries about trade tensions.
The S&P 500 fell 0.1 percent, to 2,747.33. It climbed as much as 13 points earlier but wound up with its fourth consecutive loss. The Dow Jones industrial average added 115.54 points, or 0.5 percent, to 24,873.66. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.2 percent, to 7,481.74. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks slid 0.5 percent, to 1,576.62. — AP
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