Stocks - Dow Downed by Boeing By Investing.com - Investing.com

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Investing.com - The Dow fell on Monday following a sharp decline in shares of Boeing.

The fell 0.32%, the edged up 0.10%, while the rose 0.19%.

Boeing (NYSE:) plunged more than 4.4% after Bank of America downgraded its rating on the company to neutral from buy and cut its price target on the stock to $420 from $480 on expectations that production delays of the 737 Max jet will hurt margins and free cash flow. Boeing shares are down 16% since peaking at $446.01 on March 1.

The bank said it expects production of the 737 Max jet to be delayed by six to nine months. Boeing on Friday said it will cut its production of the 737 Max jets by nearly a fifth to 42 a month from its original target of 52.

American Airlines (NASDAQ:) and Southwest Airlines (NYSE:), both of which count the 737 Max among their fleets, ended the day lower, pressured by expectations that the grounding off the 737 Max could last through the peak summer travel season. American Airlines was off 0.5%. Southwest, historically the largest buyer of 737 planes, dropped 2.5%.

General Electric (NYSE:) also added to weak sentiment, falling 5.2% after JPMorgan cut its price target on the stock to $5 from $6, saying "many investors are underestimating the severity of the challenges and underlying risks at GE, while overestimating the value of small positives."

The bearish calls from Wall Street on Boeing and General Electric come just days ahead of the start of first-quarter earnings, which many fear will prove to be one of the most challenging in recent quarters.

First-quarter earnings are now expected to decline 4.2% year over year for S&P 500 companies, according to FactSet, compared to a 3.9% decline forecasted just one week ago.

"If -4.2% is the actual decline for the quarter, it will mark the first year-over-year decline in earnings for the index since Q2 2016 and the largest year-over-year decline in earnings since Q1 2016," FactSet said.

Energy stocks kept a lid on downside momentum in the broader market as oil prices settled at five-month highs thanks to expectations for tighter global oil supplies as fighting in Libya intensified.

Tech pared losses to end the day in the black, underpinned by a 1.6% rise in Apple (NASDAQ:) after Morgan Stanley talked up the tech giant's chances of emerging as a leader in consumer health care.

Symantec (NASDAQ:), up 5.4%, was also among the top gainers in tech after Goldman Sachs upgraded the cyber security firm to buy from neutral and raised its price target on the stock to $28 from $23.

On the economic front, falling added to concerns about a slowdown in manufacturing sector, but the impact on stocks was somewhat muted.

Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:

Symantec (NASDAQ:), Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:) and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (NYSE:) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.

General Electric (NYSE:), Boeing (NYSE:) and Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.

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April 09, 2019 at 03:01AM