The Jim Bakker Show

Guess who’s shopping at dollar stores? Well-to-do millennials

By Sruthi Ramakrishnan and Siddharth Cavale

(Reuters) – Victoria Marin, a 35-year old author and educator, used to spend hundreds of dollars at large party-goods retailers on supplies that ended up in the trash can.

But a visit to the neighborhood Dollar General store, mainly to stock up on cheaper paper napkins and plastic cups, completely changed the way she shopped.

She realized the store was more like a small supermarket, where she could buy groceries, Christmas decorations and even apparel at much cheaper prices than at a Walmart or a Shop Rite.

Marin, whose gross annual family income is about $150,000, said she would initially feel awkward about shopping at dollar stores.

That perception, however, changed in the past few years for thousands of shoppers like her as a shaky economy added a good dose of prudence to household budgets.

“As years passed and my family grew, I realized I could buy the same items at a dollar store for a fraction of the price,” said Marin, whose family of six lives in upstate New York.

Marin is among a growing band of affluent millennials who prefer spending less on everyday stuff and splurging on big-ticket items like cars and homes.

They do not need to shop at dollar stores, which sell products mostly priced between $1 and $10, but are increasingly choosing to do so, a move that is reshaping the fortunes of many retailers.

There is no fixed definition for millennials, but experts usually define the term as referring to those born between 1980 and 2000.

Dollar General Corp, the second-largest dollar store chain after Dollar Tree, called out this demographic as a key contributor to its revenue in its post-earnings call last month.

Of the millennials who shopped at Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Dollar Tree-owned Family Dollar stores, in the year ended April, about 29 percent earned over $100,000 a year and accounted for about a quarter of sales at these stores, according to market researcher NPD’s Checkout Tracking, which tracks consumer receipts.

Dollar stores have worked hard to shed the image that they cater to lower-income groups and have invested in retaining customers who traded down from big retail stores after the recession.

Stocking a wider variety of consumables, beauty products and over-the-counter drugs, the interiors of dollar stores now look very much like a Walmart or Target store.

“I get a lot of toiletries (at Dollar Tree), and those aren’t always name brands,” said Eric Brantner, a 33-year-old freelance copywriter who lives in Houston and makes roughly $100,000 a year.

“For instance, the cotton swabs aren’t Q-Tips, but they work just as well and are less than half the price.”

Also, the number of dollar stores has grown rapidly in the last few years, often making them the nearest store in cities as well as small towns.

Dollar General operates more than 12,700 stores in the United States, while Dollar Tree operates about 14,000 stores in the United States and Canada.

Nielsen data shows that the number of heads of households under the age of 35 years who shop at dollar stores and earn more than $100,000 a year rose 7.1 percent between 2012 and 2015, versus a 3.6 percent increase at all retail stores.

Dollar General and Dollar Tree both reported profits above analysts’ expectations for the latest quarter, in contrast with weak profits at department stores such as Macy’s Inc and Target.

Dollar General said millennials contributed about 24 percent to its first-quarter revenue. This included mid and lower-income millennials as well.

Dollar General and Dollar Tree declined to comment beyond what they have said publicly.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan and Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Housing, medical care support U.S. underlying inflation

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer prices moderated in May, but sustained increases in housing and healthcare costs kept underlying inflation supported, which could allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year.

While another report on Thursday showed an increase in the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week, the trend remained consistent with a healthy labor market. The data came a day after the Fed downgraded its assessment of the jobs market and gave a mixed view of the economy.

The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index increased 0.2 percent last month, slowing from April’s 0.4 percent rise. Gasoline prices rose modestly and the cost of food fell.

In the 12 months through May, the CPI gained 1.0 percent after advancing 1.1 percent in April.

Stripping out the volatile food and energy components, the so-called core CPI, increased 0.2 percent after a similar gain in April. That took the year-on-year core CPI rise to 2.2 percent from 2.1 percent in April.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI gaining 0.3 percent last month and the core CPI rising 0.2 percent.

The Fed has a 2 percent inflation target and tracks an inflation measure which is currently at 1.6 percent. The U.S. central bank on Wednesday kept interest rates unchanged and said it expected inflation to remain below its target through 2017.

While the Fed signaled it still planned two rate hikes this year, there was less conviction, with six officials expecting only a single increase, up from one in March. The Fed raised its benchmark overnight interest rate in December for the first time in nearly a decade.

The dollar extended losses against the yen on the data, while prices for U.S. government debt were little changed.

FOOD PRICES FALL

Last month, gasoline prices rose 2.3 percent after surging 8.1 percent in April. Food prices fell 0.2 percent, reversing the prior month’s increase.

Within the core CPI basket, housing and medical costs maintained their upward trend. Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence rose 0.3 percent after rising by the same margin in April.

Medical care costs increased 0.3 percent after a similar gain in April. The cost of hospital services shot up 0.7 percent after rising 0.3 percent the prior month. Doctor visit costs rose 1.0 percent, but the cost of prescription medicine fell 0.4 percent after increasing 0.7 percent in April.

Apparel prices rose 0.8 percent. The cost of used cars and trucks dropped 1.3 percent, the biggest fall since March 2009. Prices for new motor vehicles fell 0.1 percent.

In a second report, the Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 277,000 for the week ended June 11.

The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, slipped 250 to 269,250 last week.

Jobless claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a strong job market, for 67 straight weeks, the longest streak since 1973. The Fed said on Wednesday “the pace of improvement in the labor market has slowed while growth in economic activity appears to have picked up.”

The U.S. central bank also noted that while the unemployment rate had declined, “job gains have diminished.”

But with job openings near record highs, both economists and Fed officials expect job growth to pick up after the economy added only 38,000 jobs in May, the smallest increase since September 2010.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Fed leaves interest rates unchanged, signals two hikes this year

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen holds a press conference in Washington

By Jason Lange and Howard Schneider

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and signaled it still plans two rate increases this year, saying it expects the U.S. job market to strengthen after a recent slowdown.

The U.S. central bank, however, lowered its economic growth forecasts for 2016 and 2017 and indicated it would be less aggressive in tightening monetary policy after the end of this year.

Fed policymakers gave no indication of when they might raise rates, though their projections leave the door open to an increase next month.

“The pace of improvement in the labor market has slowed,” the Fed said in a statement. It added, however, that “economic activity will expand at a moderate pace and labor market indicators will strengthen” even with gradual rate increases.

Updated projections from Fed policymakers point to annual economic growth of only 2 percent for the foreseeable future, slightly lower than forecast at the March policy meeting.

Policymakers have been worried about potential weakness in the U.S. labor market and the possibility of financial turmoil if Britain votes next week to leave the European Union. The Fed statement on Wednesday made no reference to that vote.

“It’s as dovish as the Fed can get without actually cutting rates. Even (Kansas City Fed President) Esther George withdrew her dissent. The path of rates is lower, which is a big dovish swing,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Fund Management.

Financial markets all but priced out a rate increase this year after the Fed statement, and U.S. short-term interest rate futures contracts rose. U.S. stocks held on to their pre-meeting gains.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1830 GMT).

NO DISSENTS

The Fed left its target range for overnight lending rates between banks at between 0.25 percent to 0.50 percent, keeping on hold a campaign to lift borrowing costs that started late last year.

It raised rates in December for the first time in nearly a decade and signaled four increases were likely in 2016. Concerns about a global economic slowdown and volatility in financial markets subsequently reduced that number to two.

Although worries about the health of the global economy have eased, a sharp slowdown in U.S. hiring in May was unsettling. More recent data have indicated that last month’s jobs report may have been a blip.

The Fed statement said economic activity appeared to have picked up since April.

Economists polled by Reuters had seen virtually no chance that the Fed would raise rates on Wednesday. Most had expected it to do so in July or September on a view that the U.S. job market would bounce back and Britain’s EU referendum would not lead to a financial meltdown.

There were no dissents in the Fed’s rate decision on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Jason Lange and Howard Schneider; Additional reporting by David Chance; Editing by Paul Simao)

At $50 barrel, oil risks ‘reverse Goldilocks syndrome’

Worker looks at pump jack at oil field Buzovyazovskoye owned by Bashneft company north from Ufa

By Amanda Cooper

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil’s battle to reclaim $50 a barrel may have left it in a sticky situation, where the price is too low to lure fresh investor bulls and too high to force more production offline.

Global oil production has fallen by nearly 1 million barrels per day in the last year to just over 95 million bpd, based on International Energy Agency figures. Demand is expected to reach 96.7 million bpd this quarter, up more than 1 million bpd in that time.

An abrupt rise in unplanned production outages, caused by wildfires in Canada, as well as political and economic havoc in Nigeria, Venezuela and Libya fueled a 75 percent rally in the last six months, surpassing $50 for the first time since the height of the U.S. subprime crisis in early 2009.

Emboldened by the prospect of a stubborn overhang of unwanted crude possibly disappearing more quickly than originally thought, investors ploughed back into oil, raising their bullish price bets to all-time highs in April in the case of the Brent market. [O/ICE]

With oil now around the pivotal $50 point, some of this enthusiasm appears to have cooled, while on the supply front, part of that disrupted output is returning.

More worryingly for the bulls, there are signs that U.S. shale production, which is nimbler than conventional output, could be about to pick up again. [RIG/U]

“It’s ‘reverse Goldilocks’ – it’s not hot enough and it’s not cold enough. If you’re bearish, it’s not low enough for the bears and it’s not high enough for the bulls. Ergo, ($50) is the one number you don’t stick at,” Paul Hornsell, head of commodities research at Standard Chartered, said.

Weekly U.S. exchange data showed money managers raised their short positions in U.S. crude oil futures and options for the first time in a month last week, and by the largest amount since mid-January.

In fact, it was the break below $50 a barrel in late 2015 that unleashed a dizzying increase in net short positions – over 140 million barrels’ worth in just three months, the most aggressive build on record.

LIGHT, SWEET SPOT?

“It leaves the market to think we are in a bit of a ‘sweet spot’ at the moment,” Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said.

“$52 and above is probably not seen as being sustainable at this stage and, at the same time, investors looking for a continued bounce into 2017 will probably look at any weakness as a buying opportunity.”

The decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in late 2014, led by Saudi Arabia, to let oil fall enough to force higher-cost producers out of business has slashed U.S. shale output by nearly 1 million bpd in a year.

Spending cuts in the oil and gas industry topped $100 billion last year, when the drop in crude prices accelerated the fastest, falling 60 percent to below $50.

Analysts at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch believe that with Saudi Arabia relinquishing its role as the effective “central bank of oil”, when it would adjust supply from one month to the next to keep the global oil market in balance, the demand side of the equation will prove a key price driver.

The bank’s team notes that demand reacts to oil price changes on average over 12 to 24 months, while supply outside OPEC and North America responds to price changes over a two- to six-year time frame.

“Global oil supply elasticities kick in over a multi-year window … suggesting higher prices may be needed to slow down demand in 2017,” Bank of America-Merrill Lynch’s analysts wrote.

(Reporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Dale Hudson)

Wall Street falls with oil, worries about global economy

By Caroline Valetkevitch

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks extended losses into a second day on Friday following another drop in oil prices and rising worries about the global economy ahead of Britain’s referendum on whether to stay in the European Union.

Ahead of Britain’s referendum on June 23, a poll showed those in favor of Britain exiting the EU, or “Brexit,” were well ahead of those who favor remaining. The British pound fell against the dollar.

“The inability of the S&P to even hold key resistance tells you the market is not ready to break out to new record highs,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.

“The global economy is weak and it can’t handle any major shocks. If Brexit occurs, that’s a major shock.”

The S&P energy index <.SPNY> was down 2.2 percent, leading sector losses.

At 3:14 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 165.18 points, or 0.92 percent, to 17,820.01, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 25.36 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,090.12 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 77.64 points, or 1.57 percent, to 4,880.98.

Investors around the world swapped equities for less risky assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds and the Japanese yen. Yields on government bonds fell globally, to record lows in some cases, while the S&P financial index <.SPSY> was down 1.5 percent.

Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of DoubleLine Capital, said Friday investors are dropping risky assets because of falling global GDP expectations, fueled by China’s slowing growth and the intensifying U.S. presidential race.

Some stock investors are betting on a return of the volatility that marked the first two months of the year. The bounce-back in commodity prices that fueled much of the 13.3-percent rally in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index since its February lows is leveling off.

The CME Volatility index <.VIX>, Wall Street’s fear gauge, jumped 17.6 percent.

Among Wall Street’s few bright spots on Friday was Intel <INTC.O>, up 0.4 percent. Bloomberg reported the chipmaker would replace Qualcomm as an Apple <AAPL.O> supplier for some iPhones. Qualcomm <QCOM.O> was down 2.4 percent.

(Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Nick Zieminski)

U.S. posts $53 billion budget deficit in May

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government posted a $53 billion budget deficit in May, a 38 percent drop from the same month last year, the Treasury Department said on Friday.

The government had a deficit of $84 billion in May of 2015, according to the Treasury’s monthly budget statement.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a $60 billion deficit for last month.

However, when accounting for calendar adjustments, May would have shown a $102 billion deficit compared with an adjusted $84 billion deficit a year prior.

The current fiscal year-to-date deficit was $407 billion, up 11 percent from a $367 billion deficit at this time last year.

On an adjusted basis, the fiscal year-to-date gap was $413 billion compared with $367 billion at this time last year.

Receipts last month totaled $225 billion, a 6 percent increase from May 2015, while outlays stood at $277 billion, a 7 percent decline from the same month a year ago.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Paul Simao)

Drop in U.S. jobless claims point to labor market strength

Job seekers wait to talk to a recruiter at a health care job fair sponsored by the Colorado Hospital Association in Denver

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, pointing to sustained strength in the labor market despite a sharp slowdown in hiring last month.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 264,000 for the week ended June 4, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims for the prior week were revised to show 1,000 more applications received than previously reported.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast initial claims rising to 270,000 in the latest week. Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a strong job market, for 66 straight weeks, the longest streak since 1973.

The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 7,500 to 269,500 last week.

A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing last week’s claims data. Only claims for Maryland were estimated.

The dollar held earlier gains versus a basket of currencies after the data, while prices for U.S. Treasuries dipped. U.S. stock futures pared losses.

The report was the latest indication that the labor market remains strong even though the economy added only 38,000 jobs in May, the smallest gain since September 2010. A report on Wednesday showed job openings hitting a nine-month high in April and layoffs falling to their lowest level since September 2014.

The health of the labor market will likely determine the timing of the next Federal Reserve interest rate increase.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen this week reiterated the U.S. central bank’s desire to raise rates, but gave no hints on when that might happen.

Before May’s dismal jobs report, Yellen had signaled rates would rise “in coming months” if economic data continued to suggest that growth was picking up in the second quarter. The Fed lifted its benchmark overnight interest rate in December for the first time in nearly a decade.

Thursday’s claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid dropped 77,000 to 2.10 million in the week ended May 28, the lowest level since October 2000. The four-week average of the so-called continuing claims fell 17,500 to 2.15 million.

The insured unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point to a record low of 1.5 percent.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)

Oil Prices fall on profit taking after hitting 2016 highs

A worker looks at a pump jack at an oil field Buzovyazovskoye owned by Bashneft company north from Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia, J

By Ahmad Ghaddar

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Thursday as traders took profits after three sessions of gains, though prices remained close to their highest this year thanks to a fall in U.S. crude inventories and supply disruptions.

International Brent crude oil futures traded 46 cents a barrel lower at $52.05 a barrel at 7.32 a.m. ET, after setting a 2016 high of $52.86 a barrel earlier in the session. U.S. crude fell by 34 cents a barrel to $50.89 after also hitting a new 2016 high at $51.67.

A rebounding U.S. dollar also weighed on prices.

“If you look at the week behind us … there was support for commodities from the currency side, the equity side, and the emerging markets side,” chief commodity analyst at SEB Bjarne Schieldrop said.

“We see some reverse of that now,” he added.

A fall in the dollar against a basket of currencies to a five-week low on Wednesday boosted oil prices, but the index recovered on Thursday, rising by 0.33 percent at 7.35 a.m. ET.

A weaker dollar makes oil cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Oil prices also gained ground after data on Wednesday from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed U.S. crude stocks last week fell by 3.23 million barrels, while inventories of gasoline and middle distillates rose.

Supply outages in Nigeria and Canada have also kept oil prices supported.

Consultancy Energy Aspects estimates Canadian output losses will total 29 million barrels across May and June, “after adjusting for turnaround work that was underway before the wildfires broke out, and assuming a pre wildfire utilization rate of 85 percent of (the 2015 average)”.

The Niger Delta Avengers militant group on Wednesday rejected an offer of talks with the government to end its attacks on oil facilities and said it had blown up a Chevron <CVX.N> pipeline site in the Niger Delta.

But some analysts said there are signs that downward pressure on prices is mounting.

ANZ bank said the rises were “tempered by an increase in (U.S.) crude production of 10,000 barrels per day to 8.75 million barrels per day and the number of active rigs increasing by 9 to 325”.

Traders also said refined product stocks were building up in the United States and Asia.

With fundamentals both for and against higher prices, many traders and analysts say a price of $50-60 per barrel may be fair value. This is reflected in Brent’s forward curve, which stays within that range until early 2021.

(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Dour U.S. Employment report casts doubts on FED rate hike

People enter the Nassau County Mega Job Fair at Nassau Veterans Memorial

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy created the fewest number of jobs in more than five years in May as employment in the manufacturing and construction sectors fell sharply, suggesting a deterioration in the labor market that could make it harder for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by only 38,000 jobs last month, the smallest gain since September 2010, the Labor Department said on Friday. Employment gains were also restrained by a month-long strike by Verizon workers, which depressed information sector payrolls by 34,000 jobs.

Underscoring the report’s weakness, employers hired 59,000 fewer workers in March and April than previously reported. While the unemployment rate fell three-tenths of a percentage point to 4.7 percent in May, the lowest since November 2007, that was in part due to people dropping out of the labor force.

“This unusual jobs report puts the Fed in a tricky position. Disappointing job creation numbers, including adverse revisions to prior monthly estimates, argue for the Fed to remain highly accommodative for now,” said Mohamed el-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz in Newport Beach, California.

U.S. stock index futures dropped after the data, while prices for U.S. government debt rose. Short-term interest rate futures jumped. The dollarDXY was trading lower against a basket of currencies.

The Fed bank has signaled its intention to raise rates soon if job gains continued and economic data remained consistent with a pickup in growth in the second quarter.

Fed Chair Yellen said last week that a rate increase would probably be appropriate in the “coming months,” if those conditions were met. The U.S. central bank hiked its benchmark overnight interest rate in December for the first time in nearly a decade.

WEAK REPORT

The weak employment report bucks data on consumer spending, industrial production, goods exports and housing that have suggested the economy is gathering speed after growth slowed to a 0.8 percent annualized rate in the first quarter.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising 164,000 in May and the unemployment rate falling to 4.9 percent.

The goods producing sector, which includes mining, manufacturing and construction, shed 36,000 jobs, the most since February 2010. Even without the Verizon strike, payrolls would have increased by a mere 72,000.

The Verizon workers, who were considered unemployed because they did not receive a salary during the payrolls survey week, returned to their jobs on Wednesday. They are expected to boost June employment.

Other details of the employment report were less encouraging. Average hourly earnings rose five cents, or 0.2 percent. That kept the year-on-year rise at 2.5 percent.

Economists say wage growth of between 3.0 percent and 3.5 percent is needed to lift inflation to the Fed’s 2.0 percent target. There are, however, signs that inflation is creeping higher as the dampening effects of the dollar’s past rally and the oil price plunge dissipate.

A broad measure of unemployment that includes people who want to work but have given up searching and those working part-time because they cannot find full-time employment held steady at 9.7 percent in May.

The labor force participation rate, or the share of working-age Americans who are employed or at least looking for a job, fell 0.2 percentage point to 62.6 percent.

The job gains in May were broadly weak, with the private sector adding only 25,000 jobs, the smallest since February 2010. Manufacturing employment fell by 10,000 jobs and construction payrolls dropped 15,000.

Mining employment maintained its downward trend, shedding 10,000 positions. Mining payrolls have dropped by 207,000 since peaking in September 2014, with three-quarters of the losses in support activities.

Retail payrolls rose 11,400 after shedding jobs in April for the first time since December 2014. Wholesale trade employment fell by 10,300 jobs. Temporary help jobs dropped 21,000. There were declines in utilities and transportation and warehousing employment. Government payrolls increased 13,000.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Additional reporting by Jennifer Ablan in New York; Editing by Paul Simao)

Wall Street dragged lower by Apple, oil prices

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell on Thursday morning, weighed down by a fall in Apple as well as a drop in energy companies after OPEC failed to agree on output policy.

Oil prices dropped about 2 percent and the energy index tumbled 1.13 percent. Major oil producers Exxon and Chevron were down about 1 percent.

Apple was down about 1.3 percent after Goldman Sachs cut its price target on the stock, citing lower growth expectations for the smartphone industry. The stock was the biggest drag on all three major indexes.

The European Central Bank kept its negative interest rates unchanged and President Mario Draghi said inflation would likely remain very low or negative in the next few months.

As well as uncertainty over the OPEC decision, contrasting data from the United States and abroad over the past two days led traders to lower their expectations of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates as soon as this month.

The ADP National Employment report on Thursday showed U.S. private payrolls increased a less-than-expected 173,000 in May. But, as the economy nears full employment, job creation would slow, said Mark Zandi, Moody’s Analytics’ chief economist.

The data comes ahead of the U.S. Labor Department’s more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report on Friday, which includes both public and private-sector employment.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits unexpectedly dropped last week, pointing to a tightening labor market.

“Obviously there are several major events that the market is going to focus on and could cause a bumpy ride for stocks today,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

At 9:45 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 44.07 points, or 0.25 percent, at 17,745.6.

The S&P 500 was down 5.36 points, or 0.26 percent, at 2,093.97 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 9.41 points, or 0.19 percent, at 4,942.84.

Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, led by the energy index.

Mining equipment maker Joy Global rose 13.5 percent after it reported a surprise adjusted profit for the latest quarter.

Cloud storage provider Box fell 9.1 percent to $11.64 after the company reported a slowdown in billings growth in the first quarter.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,674 to 957. On the Nasdaq, 1,198 issues fell and 1,049 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 13 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 26 new highs and six new lows.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)

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