Stocks drop as manufacturing gauge falls more than forecast

NEW YORK – U.S. stocks fell, ending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s longest stretch without a 5 percent slide since 2006, as a gauge of manufacturing in the world’s largest economy declined more than estimated.

Telephone stocks plunged after AT&T Inc. introduced new service plans, the latest in an escalating price war among wireless carriers. Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. fell at least 2.2 percent after reporting declines in January auto sales that were greater than analysts had estimated. Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. slid 3.7 percent after management told Men’s Wearhouse Inc. it will not enter takeover talks. Pfizer Inc. rose 2 percent after saying a treatment for women with advanced breast cancer showed “positive” results in a trial.

The S&P 500 fell 1.8 percent to 1,751.45 at 1:16 p.m. in New York, poised for the lowest close since Nov. 8. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 234.02 points, or 1.5 percent, to 15,464.83. The gauge has fallen 6.7 percent this year to the lowest since October. Trading in S&P 500 stocks was 48 percent above the 30-day averaging during this time of the day.

“Everyone walked in this year expecting a continuation of at least growing economic activity and the latest data we’ve been seeing throw a bit of cold water on that theory,” Bill Schultz, chief investment officer who oversees about $1.1 billion at McQueen Ball & Associates in Bethlehem, Penn., said by phone. “Economic activity was not as strong as people expected. People are taking a pause, reassessing where they stand.”

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The S&P 500 has dropped 5.2 percent this year as the Federal Reserve trimmed its bond-buying program for the second time in as many months and emerging-market currencies tumbled amid signs growth was slowing in China. The country’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index decreased to a six-month low in January as output and orders slowed.

Worst month

The benchmark measure for U.S. equities retreated 3.6 percent in January, its worst opening month since 2010, as the gauge retreated in each of the month’s final three weeks, the longest streak since 2012.

The S&P 500 reached a record 1,848.38 on Jan. 15 and has fallen 5.2 percent since then. The market last produced a loss of that magnitude or more from May to June, when index dropped 5.8 percent. It hadn’t seen a retreat of 5 percent from a peak since then through Sunday, the longest stretch since late 2006, according to Bespoke Investment Group LLC.

Data on Monday showed factory activity in the U.S. expanded in January at the weakest pace in eight months as orders slumped, a sign manufacturing cooled at the start of the year along with the weather.

Factory data

The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index decreased to 51.3 from 56.5 the prior month, the Tempe, Ariz.-based group’s report showed. The median forecast of 85 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a decrease to 56. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

Fed policy makers said on Jan. 29 that the central bank will trim its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion to $65 billion, cutting the pace of stimulus for a second straight meeting because of an improving economy.

Three rounds of Fed bond buying has helped drive the S&P 500 up 159 percent from a 12-year low in 2009 while pushing capital into emerging markets in search of higher returns.

“The market is adjusting to the Fed taking the punch bowl away,” Douglas Cote, chief market strategist at ING U.S. Investment Management in New York, in a telephone interview. His firm oversees about $200 billion. “The fundamentals remain solid. Even though we’re in the correction phase, ultimately the path for the market is up.”

Debt ceiling

Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said Monday that the U.S. risks breaching the federal debt limit by the end of this month and called on Congress to raise it immediately to sustain economic momentum. The debt ceiling was suspended through Feb. 7 under an agreement between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans in October. The Treasury Department uses so-called extraordinary measures, or accounting maneuvers, stay under the ceiling.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Yum! Brands Inc. are among 11 S&P 500 companies reporting earnings on Monday. Profit at companies in the benchmark gauge probably increased by 8.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 and their revenue by 2.5 percent, analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index jumped 9.9 percent to 20.23, the highest level since October. The gauge of S&P 500 options known as the VIX is up 47 percent this year.

Cellular plans

All 10 main S&P 500 groups retreated at least 0.6 percent on Monday, with phone stocks plunging 3.1 percent to lead declines. AT&T dropped 3.5 percent to $32.14 while Verizon Communications Inc. fell 2.8 percent to $46.67, the two biggest drops in the Dow.

AT&T’s new offer cuts $40 a month from premium users’ bills. The move is an escalation of competition in the mobile market where AT&T and T-Mobile US Inc. have run back-and-forth attack ads and offered $450 in credit to entice customers to switch service providers.

Ford fell 3.5 percent to $14.43, the seventh drop in eight days that left the stock at its lowest since June. GM slipped 2.2 percent to $35.30. The largest U.S. automakers reported wider declines in deliveries than analysts estimated as the coldest January in two decades kept some shoppers from dealerships. Sales of cars and light trucks fell 12 percent for GM and 7.5 percent for Ford, according to company statements.

Buyout talks

Jos. A. Bank dropped 3.7 percent to $54.13. The retailer, which told Men’s Wearhouse Inc. it won’t enter buyout talks, has been looking at other acquisitions including retailer Eddie Bauer, people familiar with the matter said.

Pfizer advanced 2 percent to $31.01 for the biggest gain in the Dow. The world’s largest drugmaker said a phase 2 trial of palbociclib plus letrozole achieved its primary endpoint in treating post-menopausal women with advanced breast cancer.

Time Warner Cable Inc. rose 0.9 percent to $134.51. Charter Communications Inc. is considering raising its buyout offer to about $142.50 a share, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the situation. Charter has offered $132.50 a share.

ArthroCare Corp. rallied 7.7 percent to $48.87. Smith & Nephew Plc agreed to buy the company for $48.25 a share, or $1.7 billion in cash, to add products for minimally invasive surgery used in sports medicine.

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