New York Report: Wall St closes lower after initial gains
US STOCKS lost early gains yesterday and turned negative to close modestly lower, dropping from earlier highs that saw the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average hit new intraday record highs.
Gains were initially fuelled by moves the European Central Bank took to stimulate the struggling Eurozone economy and continued signs of improvements in the US.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 8.7 points, or nearly 0.1 per cent, to 17,069.58. The S&P 500 slid 3.07 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 1,997.65, while the Nasdaq lost 10.28 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 4,562.29.
US-listed shares of BP fell 5.9 per cent to $44.89 after a judge ruled the company was “grossly negligent” in a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
Shares of PVH rose 9.6 per cent to $128.38 after the apparel company’s quarterly profit beat expectations, bolstered by sales of Tommy Hilfiger-branded clothes.
The S&P energy index ended down 1.3 per cent as the day’s worst performing sector in the S&P.
Drilling equipment maker FMC Technologies, the sector’s biggest percentage decliner, fell 4.4 per cent to $57.05.
GoPro was last trading down nearly four per cent to $54.70 after JP Morgan analyst Paul Coster cut his rating on the wearable digital camera company saying it “has traded through our price target and we do not recommend adding to positions here.”