NEW YORK -- Banks and other large U.S. stocks fell Thursday, but smaller companies climbed, making for a mixed finish on Wall Street. Trade issues again weighed on the market as representatives of the auto industry told Congress they opposed tariffs on imported cars and car parts being proposed by the Trump administration.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 11.13 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,804.49. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 134.79 points, or 0.5 percent, to 25,064.50. The Nasdaq composite fell 29.15 points, or 0.4 percent, to 7,825.30.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks recovered from an early slide and rose 9.44 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,701.31. Smaller retailers did especially well. Smaller companies tend to do better than larger ones when trade tensions flare up because they do a greater proportion of their sales in the U.S.
More stocks rose than fell on the New York Stock Exchange.
Major banks fell as interest rates decreased. Weak second-quarter results also weighed on American Express and Bank of New York Mellon. President Donald Trump told CNBC he is "not happy" the Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates, which had little effect on the stock market but did send the dollar slightly lower.
Companies that make and distribute drugs fell after the Trump administration proposed changes to government rules on drug price rebates. Aluminum producers sank after Alcoa said the U.S. tariffs on imported aluminum are costing it at least $12 million a month.
Representatives of car manufacturers, suppliers and dealers appeared before Congress along with foreign diplomats. They were seeking to head off the Trump administration's proposed tariffs on imported cars and car parts.
Lindsey Bell, investment strategist with CFRA, said most consumers haven't noticed the effects of the tariffs yet, but that will change if cars are taxed.
"It will significantly increase the price of a car and the consumer will definitely pull back" on spending, she said, adding that foreign automakers with factories in the U.S. might move those jobs overseas.
"There's a lot of jobs that could be lost if these tariffs go through," she said.
General Motors said last month that tariffs on imported cars might cause it to cut jobs in the U.S. Its stock slid 1.4 percent to $39.31, and Tesla dipped 1.1 percent to $320.23. Auto parts retailer BorgWarner lost 2.1 percent to $45.03.
Second-quarter results and forecasts from U.S. companies continued to dominate trading. American Express fell 2.7 percent to $100.17 after it set aside more money to cover potential bad loans. Bank of New York Mellon lost 5.2 percent to $52.73.
EBay slumped 10.1 percent to $34.53 after it reported lower sales than analysts had forecast.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 1 percent to $69.46 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 0.4 percent to $72.58 per barrel in London.
Gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,224 an ounce, and silver fell 1.1 percent to $15.40 an ounce. Copper dropped 2.3 percent to $2.70 a pound.
Business on 07/20/2018