NEW YORK -- Shares of automakers and technology and industrial companies fell Thursday as investors focused on the U.S.-China trade dispute, which stands to reduce company spending and earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped for the eighth day in a row.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 17.56 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,749.76. The Dow fell 196.10 points, or 0.8 percent, to 24,461.70. The index has fallen 3.4 percent over the past eight days. Its last losing streak this long was in March 2017.
The Nasdaq composite fell 68.56 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,712.95. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks fell 18.04 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,688.95. The Nasdaq and Russell 2000 both closed at record highs Wednesday.
While investors generally don't expect a trade war between the United States and China, they remain sensitive to signs that rising tariffs and trade tensions will hurt the global economy and reduce corporate profits. This week they've received some signs that this is happening. On Thursday, German automaker Daimler said the tariffs China plans to put on cars imported from the United States will contribute to a small decline in earnings this year.
Shares of online retailers skidded and rivals such as department stores rose after the Supreme Court ruled that states can force more online shoppers to pay sales tax. Energy companies declined ahead of a meeting where OPEC countries and other nations are expected to increase oil production. Bond yields fell, and big dividend payers like real-estate investment trusts and utilities made some of the biggest gains on Wall Street.
Daimler is projecting fewer SUV sales and higher costs for Mercedes-Benz cars as a result of Chinese tariffs on cars made in the United States. Those are scheduled to take effect July 6. The company now says its earnings before interest and taxes will fall slightly this year rather than the previously forecast small increase. Its stock fell 4.3 percent in Germany.
Online retailers dropped after the Supreme Court ruling. For more than two decades, companies were not required to collect sales tax on online purchases that were made in states where companies did not have a warehouse, office or other physical presence. States argued that those rules deprived them of billions of dollars in tax revenue, and traditional retailers said online sellers had an unfair advantage.
Overstock.com shares fell 7.2 percent to $36.15 and home-goods site Wayfair gave up 1.6 percent to $114.28 while Amazon lost 1.1 percent to $1,730.22. Target gained 1 percent to $76.14 and Nordstrom added 1.8 percent to $52.78.
Energy companies skidded as investors expect OPEC to agree to a production increase at a meeting today. Greater production reduces oil prices, and that has weighed on energy stocks in recent weeks. Chevron shares fell 2.2 percent to $122.59 and Marathon Oil dropped 5.4 percent to $19.92.
U.S. crude dropped 0.3 percent to $65.54 a barrel in New York and Brent crude, the international standard for oil prices, lost 2.3 percent to $73.05 a barrel in London.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.90 percent from 2.94 percent. That helped stocks that pay big dividends including utilities and real estate investment trusts.
Gold shed 0.3 percent to $1,270.50 an ounce. Silver edged up 0.1 percent to $16.33 an ounce. Copper slid 0.6 percent to $3.02 a pound.
Business on 06/22/2018