US STOCKS-Wall St dips as energy, health stocks offset BofA boost

Published 17-10-2016, 07:31 pm
© Reuters.  US STOCKS-Wall St dips as energy, health stocks offset BofA boost
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* Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) up after profit rises

* Hasbro rises on better-than-expected results

* Oil prices drop weighs on energy stocks

* Indexes down: Dow 0.15 pct, S&P 0.13 pct, Nasdaq 0.2 pct (Adds details, comments, updates prices)

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street was lower on Monday morning as a dip in energy and healthcare stocks more than offset the boost to financials from Bank of America strong results.

The S&P 500 financial index .SPSY was the top boost to the benchmark index, rising 0.16 percent after Bank of America reported its first profit rise in three quarter and also topped estimates. The stock was up 0.3 percent. fell more than 1 percent as a rising U.S. rig count left investors worrying about the prolonged glut. The energy sector's .SPNY 0.54 percent drop was the steepest among the 11 S&P sectors. O/R

Declines in Merck (NS:MERK) MRK.N and Anthem ANTM.N pulled down the healthcare sector .SPXHC 0.29 percent.

With the third-quarter earnings kicking in in earnest this week, investors will be hoping corporate America's profits fare better in the second half of the year than they did in the first.

Earnings of S&P 500 companies are expected to have dipped 0.4 percent in the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data, but better-than-expected reports could shore up profits for the period.

"I think we're headed for a bumpy session with earnings leading the way," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

At 9:44 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 27.49 points, or 0.15 percent, at 18,110.89.

The S&P 500 .SPX was down 2.7 points, or 0.13 percent, at 2,130.28 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 10.29 points, or 0.2 percent, at 5,203.87.

Six of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower.

"It's also a jittery market ahead of the elections and of course the prospects of a rate hike in December," Cardillo said.

The markets have been struggling to maintain momentum in the past few weeks amid changing dynamics of the U.S. presidential elections and varying signals on interest rate hikes.

The benchmark S&P 500 index has been alternating between losses and gains for the past seven days.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, who has at times supported higher interest rates, is scheduled to speak in New York at 12:15 p.m. ET (1615 GMT).

Also weighing on investor sentiment was a report that showed U.S. industrial production barely rose in September due to a decline in utilities production. of Hasbro HAS.O were up 5.24 percent at $80.15 after the toymaker reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit. Shares of larger rival Mattel MAT.O rose 1.3 percent. IBM (NYSE:IBM).N and video streaming website Netflix NFLX.O are scheduled to report results after markets close.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,485 to 1,157. On the Nasdaq, 1,203 issues fell and 1,053 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed no new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded seven new highs and 29 new lows.

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