FILE - This Jan. 4, 2010, file photo shows an historic marker on Wall Street in New York. U.S. stocks are mixed early Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, as technology companies rise ahead of another round of company earnings later in the week. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
October 09, 2017 - 7:18 AM
NEW YORK - US stocks are opening mixed as health care and industrial companies fall while technology companies gain ground. General Electric fell after announcing more changes in its leadership. Tesla dropped as investors worry about production problems at the electric car maker. Major stock indexes continued to trade around all-time highs after a long winning streak for the market that ended on Friday.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index dipped 1 point, or 0.1 per cent, to 2,547 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 2 points to 22,771. The Nasdaq composite rose 5 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 6,595 as technology companies did better than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks lost 1 point, or 0.1 per cent, to 1,508.
Trading is expected to be light because of the Columbus Day holiday. U.S. bond trading is closed for the holiday. Stocks repeatedly set record highs last week as the S&P 500 rose for eight days in a row, its longest streak in four years. That ended on Friday, although the Nasdaq remained at an all-time high.
TITANS OF INDUSTRY: General Electric slipped after it named Ed Garden of Trian Fund Management to its board of directors. Trian, a well-known activist investment firm founded by Nelson Peltz, has been pushing the conglomerate to become a leaner company. GE has announced a number of changes in its leadership since John Flannery replaced Jeffrey Immelt as its CEO. On Friday it said Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Bornstein will leave at the end of the month and will be replaced by Jamie Miller, the CEO of GE's transportation business. Two vice chairs will retire at the end of the year.
GE lost 67 cents, or 2.7 per cent, to $23.72. It's down 25 per cent this year.
HEALTH WOES: Health care companies slumped in early trading. Dialysis services company DaVita sank $3.97, or 6.6 per cent, to $55.85 and prescription drug distributor Express Scripts lost $2.53, or 4.1 per cent, to $59.83. Medical device maker Medtronic gave up $2.55, or 3.2 per cent, to $77.26.
TECH LEADS AGAIN: Third-quarter earnings reports will start later this week and investors expect continued strong results from technology companies. The industry has led the market higher for most of this year. Chipmaker Nvidia added $2.75, or 1.5 per cent, to $184.05. DXC Technology gained $1.36, or 1.6 per cent, to $88.80 and electronic storage company Seagate Technology rose 71 cents, or 2.1 per cent, to $34.50.
PUMP THE BRAKES: Electric car maker Tesla declined after the Wall Street Journal reported on the company's struggles in producing its new, lower-priced Model 3 Sedan. The Journal reported Friday that Tesla workers were making some Model 3 parts by hand as recently as September. Last week Tesla missed its third-quarter production goals and investors wonder when the company will be able to get up to speed. The stock fell $7.61, or 2.1 per cent, to $349.27.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 25 cents to $49.54 a barrel in New York as Tropical Storm Nate moved away from the Gulf Coast, where much of U.S. crude is drilled and processed. Nate hit Southeastern Louisiana Saturday evening and Mississippi on Sunday, but was downgraded to a tropical depression by midday Sunday.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 1 cent to $55.61 a barrel in London.
Chevron rose 63 cents to $117.66 and Phillips 66 picked up 35 cents to $93.17.
CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 112.67 yen from 112.71 yen. The euro dipped to $1.1733 from $1.1735.
OVERSEAS: In Britain the FTSE 100 was down 0.3 per cent. Germany's DAX added 0.1 per cent while France's CAC-40 was little changed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.5 per cent. Markets in Japan and South Korea were closed for holidays.
___
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
News from © The Associated Press, 2017