Stocks slip in early trading after worst drop in 2 years
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are slipping in early trading Tuesday, a day after the market’s biggest drop in two years. The steep sell-off on Monday erased all of the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s gains for the year.
Energy companies fell as crude oil prices edged lower.
Technology companies rose, reversing course from a day earlier. Intuit climbed after following its plan to buy Credit Karma. Facebook led communications stocks higher.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 1.35% from 1.37% late Monday.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index fell 0.7% as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 104 points, or 0.4%, to 27,859. The Nasdaq fell 0.4%. The Russell 200 index of smaller company stocks fell 1.2%.
NAILED IT: Home Depot rose 2.1% after the home-improvement retailer’s fourth-quarter financial results connected with Wall Street. The company handily beat profit expectations and a reported a surprisingly good jump for a key sales measure. It gave investors a strong profit forecast for 2020 and raised its dividend.
GOOD KARMA: Intuit rose 3.2% after the maker of TurboTax software said it will pay $7.1 billion for consumer finance company Credit Karma. The deal will give one of the most well-known makers of personal finance software a website operator that focuses on helping people monitor their credit and find loans or credit cards.
VIRUS UPDATE: The viral outbreak that originated in China has now infected more than 80,000 people globally, with more cases being reported in Europe and the Middle East. The majority of cases and deaths remain centered in China, but the rapid spread to other parts of the world has spooked markets and raised fears that it will hurt the global economy.
Several more big corporate names issued warnings about the virus’ potential impact on their finances. United Airlines Holdings fell 1% after withdrawing its financial forecasts for the year because of the impact on demand for air travel. Mastercard slipped 1.6% after saying the impact on cross-border travel and business could cut into its revenue, depending on the duration and severity of the virus outbreak.