Dow Falls as Investors Await Another Round of Earnings Reports

By Mike Bird and Gunjan Banerji 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Monday, putting the blue-chip index on track for its third consecutive session of declines.

Some investors said they were awaiting a string of earnings results this week and a policy statement from the Federal Reserve due Wednesday. Economists don't expect a change in U.S. interest rates, but the central bank could announce the beginning of its balance-sheet reduction.

The Dow industrials fell 43 points, or 0.2%, to 21537. The S&P 500 shed less than 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%.

Shares of toymakers were among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500 and its consumer-discretionary sector after Hasbro's quarterly results disappointed investors. The owner of Monopoly, whose stock is up 35% so far this year, posted sales growth that fell short of what analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting. Shares of Hasbro fell 9.5% Monday and Mattel declined 3.2%.

A number of technology heavyweights are scheduled to report earnings this week, including Google-parent Alphabet, Facebook and Amazon.com.

"Some of the nervous traders are dipping and ducking" in anticipation of earnings, said Chris Bertelsen, chief investment officer of Aviance Capital Management. "As goes earnings at the moment, so goes the market."

Also Monday, shares of utilities companies fell alongside U.S. government bond prices. The rate-sensitive sector slid 0.8% and was the S&P 500's worst performer, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.255%, according to Tradeweb, from 2.232% Friday. Yields rise as prices fall.

The dollar was mostly steady after the WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against 16 others, fell to its lowest close since Sept. 30 on Friday. Concern about policy direction from the White House and Capitol Hill since the failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act and investigations into contacts with Russians before November's election have helped fuel dollar selling.

Oil prices rose as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries continued to grapple with the growing challenges to removing what it sees as a global oversupply of oil from the market.

Saudi Arabian oil minister Khalid al-Falih said the country would limit its oil exports and added that he wanted other countries to follow suit. Despite a deal struck last year to take out almost 1.8 million barrels of crude oil from the global market, prices remain stubbornly low.

U.S. crude rose 1.2% to $46.32 a barrel Monday.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.2%, weighed down by a 1% drop in Britain's FTSE 100 and a 0.3% drop in Germany's DAX.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.6% lower, with export-reliant companies posting some of the biggest declines as the yen strengthened. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.5% after its nine-session winning streak ended Friday.

--Akane Otani contributed to this article.

Write to Mike Bird at [e-mail] and Gunjan Banerji at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 24, 2017 14:54 ET (18:54 GMT)

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