Banks and technology lead U.S. stocks lower in early trading

Alex Veiga, The Associated Press</span>
Published Tuesday, September 5, 2017 7:51AM EDT
Last Updated Tuesday, September 5, 2017 10:38AM EDT

U.S. stocks declined in early trading Tuesday as investors returned from the Labor Day holiday weekend. Banks and technology companies were down more than the rest of the market. Energy companies led the gainers as the price of crude oil headed higher.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 6 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 2,470 as of 10:12 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average slid 96 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 21,890. The Nasdaq composite lost 13 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 6,421. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added less than 1 point to 1,414. Stocks were coming off back-to-back weekly gains.

BANKING SLUMP: Financial sector companies were down the most. XL Group slid $1.84, or 4.5 per cent, to $38.78, while Brighthouse Financial lost $2.23, or 3.9 per cent, to $55.26. Goldman Sachs gave up $5.89, or 2.6 per cent, to $219.99.

TECH SLIDE: Traders also sold off technology shares. Nvidia fell $2.59, or 1.5 per cent, to $167.87, while Applied Materials shed 43 cents, or 1 per cent, to $44.67.

ENERGIZED: Gains in crude prices helped lift shares in oil producers and other energy industry companies. Baker Hughes gained $1.10, or 3.2 per cent, to $35.40. Halliburton rose 85 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $39.75.

GEOPOLITICAL JITTERS: Investors had their eye on developments the Korean Peninsula. South Korean warships conducted live-fire exercises at sea following U.S. warnings of a "massive military response" after North Korea's biggest nuclear test to date. The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting and American Ambassador Nikki Haley said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is "begging for war."

BONDS: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.10 per cent from 2.17 per cent late Friday.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained $1.45, or 3 per cent, to $48.74 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose $1.02, or 2 per cent, to $53.36 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar declined to 109.15 yen from Monday's 109.72 yen. The euro rose to $1.1909 from $1.1897.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany's DAX was up 0.7 per cent, while the CAC 40 in France was 0.1 per cent higher. London's FTSE 100 was down 0.1 per cent after a survey of business activity showed a slowdown. Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.6 per cent and Seoul's Kospi slid 0.1 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.1 per cent.

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