NEW YORK (AP) — A seven-day winning streak for stocks came to a quiet end Tuesday as banks, especially smaller ones, dropped along with bond yields and interest rates. Energy companies also sank.
Investors snapped up government bonds and high-yield stocks including phone companies and utilities. As bond prices rose, yields and interest rates fell. That reduced the profits financial institutions can make from mortgages and other types of loans. Energy companies fell to their lowest prices in a year. Technology companies continued to soar while airlines slumped as investors worried that the government could expand a ban on laptops in passenger cabins during international flights, which could affect business travel.
Still, stocks remain close to their record highs. JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist for TD Ameritrade, said he thinks stocks will stay at high levels until more details about the Trump administration's tax proposals become public.
"Barring unforeseen events, it's really going to come down to progress and details about the tax plan," he said. "We've had this run up primarily on the fact that earnings have been good."
However Kinahan said he thinks it's likely Wall Street will be disappointed with any tax cut package that does pass, since the administration's proposals will likely be scaled back in Congress.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 2.91 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,412.91. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 50.81 points, or 0.2 percent, to 21,029.47. The Nasdaq composite dipped 7 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,203.19. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks tumbled 11.05 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,371.19.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.21 percent from 2.25 percent late Friday. With interest rates falling, JPMorgan Chase declined $1.46, or 1.7 percent, to $83.90. Smaller banks fell harder, as Hope Bancorp dropped 67 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $17.48 and First Financial Bancorp sank 75 cents, or 2.9 percent to $25.05.
Oil prices recovered from an early stumble and finished only slightly lower, but energy companies continued to fall. Hess dropped $1.47, or 3.1 percent, to $46.67 and Schlumberger shed 85 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $68.74. The S&P 500 index of energy companies reached its lowest level in a year. Benchmark U.S. crude lost 14 cents to $49.66 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 45 cents to $51.84 a barrel in London.
Technology companies continued to lead the way. Security software maker Symantec advanced 45 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $30.71. Chipmaker Nvidia gained $3.03, or 2.1 percent, to $144.87 and Micron Technology rose 95 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $30.71.
International airlines slumped as the government considered expanding a ban on laptops from the passenger cabins of flights to the United States. In March the Trump administration said passengers flying from 10 cities, mostly in the Middle East, had to check all devices larger than a smartphone. On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said that ban might be expanded to all international flights to and from the U.S.
Delta Air Lines lost $1.74, or 3.4 percent, to $49.06 and United Continental slid $2, or 2.5 percent, to $79.25. American Airlines retreated 78 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $47.96.
Online retail giant Amazon.com traded above $1,000 a share for the first time, but didn't stay there. The stock peaked at $1,001.20 shortly after the market opened and wound up with a gain of 92 cents to close at $996.70. The only other S&P 500 company valued at more than $1,000 a share is travel booking site Priceline, which slipped to $1,857.45 Tuesday. Investors value Amazon at about $476 billion and Priceline at $91 billion.
E-commerce and payment services company First Data said it will buy payment processing company CardConnect for $15 a share in cash, or about $468 million. CardConnect's stock climbed $1.40, or 10.3 percent, to $15.05 and First Data picked up 18 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $16.82.
Offshore drilling contractor Atwood Oceanics jumped after it agreed to be bought by Ensco PLC for $10.72 a share in stock, or $863 million. Atwood rose $1.96, or 24.3 percent, to $10.04 while U.K.-based Ensco lost 34 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $6.36.
Cloud-based incentives company Xactly agreed to be taken private by Vista Equity Partners in a deal that values it at $15.65 a share, or $499 million. Its stock added $2.15, or 16 percent, to $15.55.
The dollar declined to 110.78 yen from 111.19 yen. The euro rose to $1.1188 from $1.1176.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline remained at $1.64 a gallon. Heating oil dipped 1 cent to $1.55 a gallon. Natural gas tumbled 17 cents, or 5 percent, to $3.15 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold lost $5.70 to $1,265.70 an ounce. Silver added 10 cents to $17.43 an ounce. Copper held still at $2.56 a pound.
The FTSE 100 index in Britain fell 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 sank 0.6 percent. Germany's DAX dipped 0.2 percent. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 finished nearly flat and South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.4 percent. Markets in Hong Kong were closed for a holiday.
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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay contributed to this story. He can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP
His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jay