By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer The major U. S. stock indexes veered mostly lower in early trading Tuesday, led by declines in banks and real estate companies. The sluggish…
The major U. S. stock indexes veered mostly lower in early trading Tuesday, led by declines in banks and real estate companies. The sluggish start on Wall Street came as investors looked ahead to the start of the second-quarter company earnings season and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s testimony to Congress.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,425 as of 10: 17 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average slid 6 points to 21,401. The Nasdaq composite rose 10 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,187. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 1 point, or 0.1 percent, to 1,409.
REFRESHING RESULTS: PepsiCo reported better-than-expected quarterly results as higher prices for drinks and snacks boosted both profit and revenue for the beverage and packaged foods company. PepsiCo’s sales volumes in North America were soft, however. That appeared to weigh on the company’s shares, which slipped 77 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $113.49.
BANKING SLIDE: Financials companies led the market lower. Charles Schwab slid 58 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $43.05. Citigroup lost 71 cents, or 1 percent, to $66.94. Discover Financial Services declined 54 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $60.56.
EXECUTIVE SHUFFLE: Citrix Systems fell 1 percent after the business software company announced that CEO Kirill Tatarinov has been replaced by David Henshall, the company’s chief financial officer. The stock gave up 76 cents to $79.17.
EARNINGS ON DECK: Investors were making modest moves ahead of the next corporate earnings reporting season, which ramps up this week. PepsiCo served up its results early Tuesday. Delta Air Lines, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are among the big companies due to report their latest quarterly results this week.
YELLEN FACTOR: Traders are looking ahead to potential news out of the Federal Reserve when Yellen addresses Congress on Wednesday and Thursday. Investors will look for clues as to how aggressively the Fed will continue to raise rates and start to unwind its big bond-buying program. The latest U. S. economic reports, particularly for jobs, have been upbeat.
BONDS: Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 2.38 percent.
ENERGY: Benchmark U. S. crude rose 16 cents to $44.57 a barrel in New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 19 cents to $47.07 a barrel in London.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 0.3 percent, while France’s CAC40 was down 0.2 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 was 0.4 percent lower. Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6 percent on expectations the yen will weaken further against the dollar as the central bank strives to keep long-term bond yields low. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.5 percent, while the Kospi in South Korea climbed 0.6 percent.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 114.37 from 114.05 yen late Monday. The euro strengthened to $1.1404 from $1.1403.
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