Stocks slip from highs as energy companies sink; Dow gains

“They want to see the data, they want to see more on inflation, and they would like more certainty about any fiscal policy changes,” she said.

The Dow average rose 32.60 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 20,775.60. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 2.56 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 2,362.82. The Nasdaq composite shed 5.32 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 5,860.63. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks slid 6.49 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 1,403.86. More stocks fell than rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

All four indexes closed at record highs Tuesday.

DuPont climbed $2.63, or 3.4 per cent, to $79.80 and Dow Chemical gained $2.45, or 4 per cent, to $63.67. Reuters reported that regulators in the European Union are close to approving their $62 billion combination. Antitrust officials in the U.S. and elsewhere would still have to approve that deal.

Investors appeared to grow more optimistic about a second deal in the chemicals industry: Monsanto, which has accepted a $57 billion offer from Bayer but is also waiting for regulatory approval, rose 81 cents to $111.38.

The minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting showed that officials discussed the importance of raising their primary interest rate soon, especially if the economy stays strong. Some Fed officials were worried that if interest rates stay too low, the expanding economy could cause inflation to rise too fast.

Investors don’t generally expect the Fed to raise interest rates at its next meeting in March. But bond prices changed course and turned higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.41 per cent from 2.43 per cent late Tuesday.

Energy companies traded lower as benchmark U.S. crude lost 74 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $53.59 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for pricing international oils, fell 34 cents to $55.84 a barrel in London.

Oil and gas company Concho Resources slid $9.65, or 6.8 per cent, to $131.70 after a weak fourth-quarter report and Newfield Exploration declined $3.42, or 8 per cent, to $39.07 as analysts expressed concerns about its forecasts for the current year.

Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb rose 57 cents, or 1 per cent, to $55.35 after the Wall Street Journal reported that billionaire investor Carl Icahn bought a stake in the company. Icahn has not confirmed his investment. Just a day earlier, after Bristol-Myers reached a deal with another activist investor, Jana Partners. It will add three new directors to its board and spend $2 billion to buy back stock. Bristol-Myers stock traded at $75 in early August but plunged as investors worry that its lung cancer drug Opdivo will lose sales to other treatments.

Food and consumer products company Unilever rose after it said it will quickly review its options to find ways to increase value for shareholders. Kraft Heinz went public Friday with an offer to buy the company for $143 billion, but it withdrew that offer over the weekend after Unilever said it wasn’t big enough. Unilever regained $2.06, or 4.6 per cent, to $46.93 after a 7.5 per cent skid Tuesday.

Technology companies wavered but finished with a small gain thanks to Facebook, which jumped $2.40, or 1.8 per cent, to $136.12. The S&P 500’s technology index has gained ground every day in February and is up 10 per cent this year. That index is at its highest level since July 2000, four months after the dot-com boom had peaked.

The dollar slipped to 113.12 yen from 113.58 yen. The euro rose to $1.0568 from $1.0547.

In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents to $1.51 a gallon. Heating oil dipped 1 cent to $1.63 a gallon. Natural gas edged up 3 cents to $2.59 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold slipped $5.60 to $1,233.30 an ounce. Silver lost 5 cents to $17.95 an ounce. Copper fell 1 cent to $2.73 a pound.

Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.4 per cent and Germany’s DAX added 0.3 per cent. In France, the CAC 40 picked up 0.1 per cent. The Japanese Nikkei 225 finished unchanged while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2 per cent. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong jumped 1 per cent.

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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/marley-jay

Marley Jay, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Stocks slip from highs as energy companies sink; Dow gains

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