Tech stocks drop again, offsetting gains for energy stocks

NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks continued to fall in early trading on Monday, following up on their sharp losses at the end of last week. But energy stocks rose with the price of oil and helped to keep U.S. indexes relatively steady ahead of a busy week full of central-bank meetings, corporate earnings reports and the monthly U.S. jobs report.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 was down 6 points, or 0.2 percent, at 2,812, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 5 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 25,455, and the Nasdaq fell 69, or 0.9 percent, to 7,667.

TECH LOSSES: Technology stocks in the S&P 500 slumped 1.2 percent for the sharpest loss among the 11 sectors that make up the index. It follows a rough week for the industry after earnings reports from Facebook and Twitter raised concerns about their growth and sent their shares plummeting. Twitter dropped 4.5 percent to $32.56, following its 21.4 percent plunge on Friday.

It’s a sharp turnaround for the technology sector, though it remains one of the leaders for the S&P 500 for the year thanks to its outsized gains earlier.

HIGH ENERGY: Energy stocks in the S&P 500 climbed 1 percent after the price of oil spurted higher by $1.62, or 2.4 percent, to $70.31 per barrel. Brent crude rose 95 cents to $75.71.

RATE WATCH: The Federal Reserve will begin a two-day meeting Tuesday on interest-rate policy. The Fed has said that it expects to raise rates two more times in 2018, but few economists expect a move at this upcoming meeting.

More action may come from the Bank of England, which is expected to raise its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday as inflation remains high. The Bank of Japan will also be meeting this week.