U.S. stocks are slipping Monday morning as global stocks also took losses. Energy companies are falling the farthest although the price of oil is little changed. Companies including business service provider Xerox and drugmaker Perrigo are down after they reported disappointing earnings.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 79 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,924 as of 10:04 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost seven points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,084. The Nasdaq composite index slid eight points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,898.
COPY THAT: Xerox cut its profit estimate for the year after its first-quarter profit dropped 85 percent. The company’s costs went up as it gets ready to split into two businesses, and its revenue fell. The stock shed $1.22, or 10.9 percent, to $9.66.
PERRI-GOING: Irish drugmaker Perrigo is tumbling after it cut its profit forecast. The company said prices for over-the-counter products in Europe are down, and it may take an impairment charge for a business it bought just a year ago.
Perrigo’s CEO also left the company to join Valeant Pharmaceuticals. The stock lost $12.20, or 10.1 percent, to $1095.15.
EARNINGS: Corporate earnings statements pick up a head of steam this week. Among this week’s notable reports are BP, Fiat Chrysler, Procter & Gamble, Airbus, Amazon and Time Warner. Around a third of the S&P 500 are due to report.
GET THAT PAPER: Gannett, the owner of USA Today and other papers, offered to buy Tribune Publishing for $388 million. Tribune owns 11 newspapers including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. It said Tribune has refused to start constructive talks.
Gannett stock rose 12 cents to $16.
IT CHECKS OUT: Laboratory Corp. of America rose $2.22, or 1.8 percent, to $123.99. The medical laboratory operator’s profit and revenue were stronger than analysts expected.
GOOD DATA: First Data Corp. jumped 85 cents, or 6.5 percent, to $13.85. The electronic commerce and payment services provider reported a larger profit than analysts expected.
CENTRAL BANKS: Central bank policy meetings in Japan and the U.S. are the focus of investors’ attention this week. The Federal Reserve will wrap up a meeting Wednesday. Investors don’t expect it to raise interest rates, but the Fed’s comments about the U.S. and global economy will be closely watched.
Traders will look to see whether the Japanese central bank enacts a further stimulus.
SAUDI ARABIA: As part of a series of economic reforms, the government of Saudi Arabia said a portion of the world’s largest oil company will go public. The kingdom valued Saudi Aramco at more than $2 trillion. It’s long been considered the most valuable company in the world. Apple, the most valuable publicly traded company, has a market capitalization of about $585 billion.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude inched up five cents to $43.78 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 33 cents to $45.44.
METALS: The price of gold rose $10.20, or almost 1 percent, to $1,240.20 an ounce. Silver gained 18 cents, or one percent, to $17.08 an ounce.
OVERSEAS: Germany’s DAX fell 0.9 percent and France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.5 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.7 percent. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped 0.8 percent. In South Korea the Kospi inched down 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8 percent.
BONDS, CURRENCIES: Bond prices declined and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 1.90 percent from 1.89 percent. The euro rose to $1.1257 from $1.1245. The dollar fell to 11.12 yen from 111.67 yen.
