Stocks fall after record run as consumer companies slip

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks moved slightly lower in early afternoon trading Monday, pulling back from the records they set last week. Consumer companies and banks are taking some of the largest losses. Small-company stocks, which have been outperforming the rest of the market for weeks, gave back some of their recent gains.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 27 points, or 0.1 percent, to 19,124 as of 1:50 p.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5 points, 0.2 percent, to 2,208 and the Nasdaq composite slipped 12 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,387.

A PAUSE: Despite the declines, stocks have staged a remarkable rally in November since the unexpected election of Donald Trump. Investors have made big bets that Trump, with a Republican-led Congress, will push to deregulate energy and banking and cut taxes, which could lead to stronger economic growth.

"The economic and equity market backdrop was already improving before the election. Trump's victory and the Republican sweep provided a catalyst for investors to ratchet up their optimism," said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management, in a note to investors.

The Russell 2000, an index of smaller companies, was down 0.7 percent. That index had risen for 15 days in a row, its longest winning streak in 20 years. All of the major indexes finished at record highs Friday.

Investors have also pulled out of the bond market, betting that higher economic growth will also lead to higher inflation, something the U.S. economy has had little of since the financial crisis.

CLEARANCE: Consumer discretionary stocks were among the hardest hit, following the closely watched post-Thanksgiving sales push.

Online retail giant Amazon fell $13.09, or 1.7 percent, to $767.09 after Citigroup analysts cut their price target on the stock, citing deep discounting by the retailer to compete during the holiday shopping season. Barnes & Noble fell 35 cents, or 3 percent, to $12.60 on reports the bookseller is also doing deep discounting.

ON THE NEWSTANDS: Magazine publisher Time Inc. jumped $2.48, or 18 percent, to $16.08 after the company reported rejected a buyout offer from investor Edgar Bronfman Jr.

OIL: The price of benchmark U.S. oil jumped $1.29, or 2.8 percent, to $47.35 a barrel in New York ahead of a meeting of OPEC, where oil-producing countries may consider a broad production cut. Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.16, or 2.4 percent, to $49.41 a barrel in London.

BONDS: Bond prices edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.32 percent from 2.36 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar was higher against the euro at $1.058 compared with $1.059 on Friday, and the dollar was at 112.38 to the Japanese yen, down from 113.04 on Friday.

By KEN SWEET,  AP Business Writer

Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The Gayly - 11/28/2016 @ 1:04 p.m. CST.