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VOL. 41 | NO. 38 | Friday, September 22, 2017

US stocks edge lower as technology, industrial companies dip

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NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are lower Thursday morning as technology companies decline and smaller companies slip after a record-setting rally. Drug and medical device maker Abbott Laboratories is climbing after regulators approved its new blood glucose monitoring system for diabetes patients. Energy companies are higher as the price of oil rises.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index gave up 3 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,503 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 29 points, or 0.1 percent, to 22,310. The Nasdaq composite shed 15 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,438. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks lost 4 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,480. The Russell 2000 is coming off its biggest daily gain in six months.

ABBOTT APPROVAL: Abbott Laboratories jumped after the Food and Drug Administration approved its FreeStyle Libre Flash glucose monitoring system for adults with Type 1 diabetes. The product uses a sensor inserted below the skin to measure blood glucose. Analysts say Abbott could have a competitive edge because the FDA did not advise patients to take samples of their blood to confirm the system's readings.

Abbott rose $2.13, or 4.1 percent, to $54.28. DexCom, which gets all its revenue from selling its own blood glucose monitoring system, plunged $23.85, or 35 percent, to $43.60 in heavy trading.

WELL SEASONED: Spice maker McCormick raised its profit and revenue estimates after it beat expectations in the fiscal third quarter. Its stock gained $5.44, or 5.6 percent, to $101.81.

Tea and seasonings maker Hain Celestial jumped after the company appointed six new members to its board after talks with investor Engaged Capital. That will mean directors backed by Engaged will make up a majority on the board. Hain said three of its current directors won't seek new terms at its annual meeting in November. The firm disclosed a stake in Hain in June. Hain Celestial rose 91 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $41.32.

RITE AID SINKS: Drugstore chain Rite Aid dropped after its quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street's forecasts. The stock lost 23 cents, or 9.9 percent, to $2.06. Earlier this month the company agreed to sell almost half of its stores to rival Walgreens for $4.38 billion, but the slimmed-down deal was smaller than investors had hoped.

LAGGARDS: Technology and industrial companies struggled at the outset. Boeing gave up $2.90, or 1.1 percent, to $2562.38 and power management company Eaton lost $1.62, or 2.1 percent, to $75.50. Among technology companies, hard drive maker Western Digital fell $2.15, or 2.4 percent, to $86.07 and payroll and human resources company Automatic Data Processing gave up $1.14, or 1 percent, to $108.50. IBM dropped 99 cents to $144.67.

OIL: Energy companies climbed as benchmark U.S. crude advanced 45 cents to $52.58 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, gained 49 cents to $58.06 per barrel in London.

BONDS: Bond prices continued to fall. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.33 percent from 2.31 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar dipped to 112.55 yen from 112.75 yen. The euro rose to $1.1793 from $1.1756.

OVERSEAS: The German DAX gained 0.3 percent and the CAC 40 in France rose 0.1 percent. The FTSE 100 in Britain was little changed. Japan's Nikkei index rose 0.5 percent and in South Korea the Kospi made a tiny gain. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.8 percent.

___

AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jay

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