US stocks tap the brakes following torrid start to the year

NEW YORK — US stock indexes held close to their record levels on yesterday, as their momentum slowed following a torrid start to the year.

Losses for health care and financial stocks helped to overshadow gains for utility stocks and other areas of the market that do well when interest rates fall.

If the trend holds, the Standard & Poor's will have its first down day of the year.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 was down 1 point, or less than 0.1 percent, at 2,742, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time.

The index had climbed in each of the four previous days, its longest winning streak to start a year since 2010.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 45 points, or 0.2 percent, to 25,250, and the Nasdaq composite was up nearly 9 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,145.

Smaller stocks lagged behind the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index dropped nearly 6, or 0.4 percent, to 1,554.

NO GO: Shares of GoPro plunged after it said revenue fell sharply last quarter. The company said it had to slash prices on cameras to drive more sales, and its $340 million in fourth-quarter revenue fell far short of Wall Street's expectations.

The stock lost $1.85, or 24.6 percent, to $5.67. It was on pace for the sharpest drop since it began trading in 2014. GoPro also said it will cut more than 20 percent of its workforce.

SEASON'S GREETINGS: Kohl's jumped to one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after it raised its earnings forecast for the year. The retailer said its sales jumped nearly 7 percent in November and December from a year earlier, and its new profit forecast easily topped Wall Street's expectations.

Kohl's rose $1.64, or 3 percent, to $56.00.

YIELDS: Treasury yields fell as prices rose for bonds. The 10-year yield dipped to 2.47 percent from 2.48 percent late Friday. The two-year yield slipped to 1.95 percent from 1.96 percent, and the 30-year yield dropped to 2.80 percent from 2.81 percent.

RATE MOVES: Lower rates tend to make dividend-paying stocks more attractive to investors looking for income. Utility stocks, which pay some of the market's biggest dividends, rose 0.4 percent for the biggest gain among the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500.

Real-estate stocks, which are also big dividend payers, rose nearly as much.

On the other end were financial stocks, which fell 0.3 percent. They would benefit from an increase in rates, which would help them earn bigger profits on loans and other products.

MARKETS ABROAD: South Korea's Kospi index rose 0.6 percent, and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.3 percent.

In Europe, France's CAC 40 rose 0.3 percent, and Germany's DAX was up 0.4 percent. The FTSE 100 in London dropped 0.3 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 113.03 Japanese yen from 113.14 yen late Friday. The euro fell to $1.1962 from $1.2050, and the British pound slipped to $1.3550 from $1.3565.

COMMODITIES: Benchmark US crude rose 2 cents to $61.46 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, dipped 4 cents to $67.58 per barrel.

Gold fell $2.90 to $1,319.40 per ounce.