US stocks mostly higher in afternoon trading; oil recovers

Utilities led U.S. stocks mostly higher in afternoon trading Monday as falling bond yields made high-dividend companies more attractive to income-seeking investors. Financial stocks were also headed higher. Technology companies were down the most, giving up gains from an early rally.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 3 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,442 as of 2 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 42 points, or 0.2 percent, to 21,437. The Nasdaq composite slid 4 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,261. The Russell 2000 of small-company stocks picked up 3 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,418.

REITS RALLY: Several real estate investment trusts were trading higher as investors sought out stocks that pay high dividend yields. Kimco Realty added 63 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $18.61. Realty Income Corp. picked up $1.45, or 2.6 percent, to $56.73. Store Capital jumped 10.3 percent on news that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is buying a 9.8 percent stake in the real estate investment trust. The stock gained $2.14 to $22.91.

ENERGY: Oil and gas companies notched some of the biggest gains. Range Resources led the S&P 500 index, adding 88 cents, or 4 percent, to $23.14. FirstEnergy rose $1.09, or 3.8 percent, to $30.

MUSICAL CHAIRS: Pandora Media rose 1.4 percent following reports that the streaming music service’s founder and CEO Tim Westergren is stepping down. The stock picked up 12 cents to $8.40.

CHECKED OUT: Supervalu gained 3.1 percent after the grocery store operator said Bruce Besanko would step down as chief financial officer. The stock climbed 9 cents to $3.03.

TECH SLUMP: Technology sector companies were down the most, reversing course after an early rally. Qorvo slid $2.97, or 4.3 percent, to $66.97. Skyworks Solutions fell $2.29, or 2.2 percent, to $102.07. Nvidia gave up $1.91, or 1.2 percent, to $151.92.

ON THE HOT SEAT: Arconic shares slid 6 percent after a published report asserted that the company knowingly supplied flammable panels for London’s Grenfell Tower, where a fire June 14 left 79 people dead or missing. The stock fell $1.53 to $24.01.

OIL: Crude oil prices recovered after wavering in early trading. Benchmark U.S. crude was up 31 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $43.32 a barrel in New York. Brent, the international standard, was up 21 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $45.75 a barrel in London. Oil prices last week hit their lowest point since August and about 16 percent below where they were a year ago on expectations supplies exceed demand.

METALS: Gold fell $10 to settle at $1,246.40 ounce. Silver slid 8 cents to $16.57 per ounce, and copper was little changed at $2.63 per pound.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 111.69 yen from 111.26 yen late Friday. The euro weakened to $1.1191 from $1.1199.

BOND YIELDS: Bond prices rose. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.13 percent from 2.14 percent late Friday.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, major indexes moved higher after a strong German economic survey reinforced hopes that the region’s recovery is gaining momentum. Germany’s DAX rose 0.3 percent, while France’s CAC-40 gained 0.6 percent. The FTSE 100 in London added 0.3 percent. In Asia, several market indexes notched gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.7 percent, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.1 percent. Seoul’s Kospi gained 0.4 percent. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.1 percent. Benchmarks in New Zealand, Taiwan and Bangkok also gained.