NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks mostly edged higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rebounding to snap a four-day losing streak, although a drop in Apple kept gains in check.
The Dow fell, with Travelers (TRV.N) down 1.9 percent. Hurricane Florence is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane through Thursday, the National Hurricane Center warned of the Category 4 storm bearing down on the U.S. east coast.
UnitedHealth shares (UNH.N) also weighed on the Dow. The stock fell 3.2 percent after a Citigroup downgrade.
Apple (AAPL.O) shares dropped 1.3 percent, weighing on the three major indexes. But the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rebounded from losses last week.
“People are trying to test the waters after the selling last week,” said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist, senior portfolio manager at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was ready to levy additional taxes on practically all Chinese imports, threatening duties on $267 billion of goods over and above planned tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese products.
China said it will respond if Washington takes any new steps on trade. Also, Apple last week said a “wide range” of its products would be hit, although it did not mention the iPhone.
At the same time, investors are optimistic about U.S. economic data and forecasts for earnings.
“Fundamentals appear to be in place to support share prices,” said John Carey, portfolio manager at Amundi Pioneer Asset Management in Boston. “Economic numbers continue to be positive, and the outlook for earnings is positive.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 59.47 points, or 0.23 percent, to 25,857.07, the S&P 500
