Phone companies led U.S. stock indexes modestly lower in morning trading Tuesday as the market gave up some of its gains from its milestone-setting finish the day before. Investors were sizing up the latest company earnings and economic data while looking ahead to an evening speech by President Donald Trump to both houses of Congress.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 5 points to 20,831 as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slid 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,367. The Nasdaq composite index lost 13 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,847. The Dow notched 12 straight gains heading into Tuesday’s trading.
BIG SPEECH: Investors are anxiously awaiting Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress later Tuesday and in particular will be seeking more clarity on tax cuts, infrastructure spending and other policies. On Monday the president told a group of governors, "We’re going to start spending on infrastructure big." He also said his budget would propose increasing defense spending by $54 billion while cutting domestic programs and foreign aid by the same amount.
THE QUOTE: "The next direction of this market, in our view, is going to be very much driven by the ability of the administration to start putting into action some of the things that the market has gotten excited about, mainly tax reform more than anything else," said Rob Eschweiler, global investment specialist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.
BAD MEDICINE: Perrigo slumped 11.2 percent after investors reacted to several disclosures by the Irish drugmaker, including that it has agreed to sell its royalty rights to a multiple sclerosis drug for as much as $2.85 billion. Perrigo said the sale will hurt its earnings, but noted it plans to use the proceeds to pay down some of its debts. The stock slid $9.49 to $75.19.
WHIFFED: Target plunged 11.9 percent after the retail chain’s latest quarterly profit fell short of Wall Street’s forecasts. The company also issued a weak outlook. The stock lost $7.94 to $58.97.
PAY CUT: Online brokers were posting sharp declines after Fidelity announced a cut in trading commissions. Other brokerages also followed suit. ETrade Financial fell $2.51, or 6.7 percent, to $34.69, while Charles Schwab gave up $1.51, or 3.6 percent, to $40.22. TD Ameritrade slid $4.16, or 9.5 percent, to $39.50.
NO SALE: Fiesta Restaurant Group tumbled 24.5 percent after the operator of the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana restaurant chains said it doesn’t plan to sell itself. The company had been reviewing its options for four months but didn’t get any final offers. The stock lost $6.35 to $19.60.
BIG GAINER: Albemarle surged 9.5 percent, the biggest gainer in the S&P 500. The chemicals company rose $8.79 cents to $101.25.
BIGGEST ‘LOSER’: Weight loss company Nutrisystem vaulted 18.5 percent as investors welcomed the latest quarterly results and its projections for 2017. The stock added $7.25 to $46.45.
TRAVEL BUZZ: Shares in Priceline climbed 6.2 percent after the online booking company posted strong quarterly earnings. The stock gained $101.15 to $1,733.16.
ANEMIC GROWTH: The Commerce Department said that the U.S. economy grew at a 1.9 percent rate in the last three months of 2016, unchanged from an initial estimate. The increase in the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, represented a significant slowdown from 3.5 percent growth recorded in the third quarter.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 0.1 percent, while the CAC 40 in France up 0.3 percent higher. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was also 0.3 percent higher. Earlier in Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index trimmed strong earlier gains to finish less than 0.1 percent higher. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.8 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.2 percent to 5,712.20.
CURRENCIES: The euro strengthened to $1.0616 from $1.0589 on Friday. The dollar fell to 111.99 yen from 112.80.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was down 77 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $53.28 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, was down 68 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $55.74 a barrel in London.
TREASURY YIELDS: Bond prices rose. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.35 percent from 2.37 percent late Monday.
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