NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stocks are starting lower for the second time in three days as most parts of the market slip. Banks, which surged last week as interest rates quickly rose, are returning some of their gains. Meat producer Tyson Foods is falling after avian flu was discovered at a supplier’s farm.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 10 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,372 as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 44 points, or 0.2 percent, to 20,961. The Nasdaq composite lost 31 points, or 0.5 percent, to 5,839. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks sank 10 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,383.
TYSON SKIDS: More than 70,000 chickens were destroyed at a chicken farm because of a bird flu outbreak, and Tyson Foods stock slumped. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said around 30 poultry farms in the area have been quarantined. Tyson said the discovery won’t affect its business, but it brought back bad memories: in 2015, U.S. poultry producers lost 48 million birds to a different strain of the virus. The most recent U.S. detection of the virus was in January 2016 in a commercial turkey flock in Indiana.
Tyson stock gave up $2.14, or 3.4 percent, to $61.46.
DRIVE IT OFF THE LOT: French automaker PSA Group agreed to buy General Motors’ European business. The European unit hasn’t made a profit for GM in 18 years, and investors were glad to see it go: GM’s stock jumped almost 5 percent when the talks were disclosed last month. PSA already makes Peugeot and Citroen cars, and the addition of the Opel and Vauxhall brands will make it the second-largest automaker in Europe. Its stock rose 3 percent.