Indexes mixed ahead of busy earnings week

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 66.90 points, or 0.3 percent, to 21,513.17. The Nasdaq composite rose 23.05 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,410.81.

The Nasdaq is up 19.1 percent this year, nearly double the rise for broader-market indexes as investors have massed into technology stocks in their search for strong growth as the global economy remains sluggish.

Amazon.com and several other big-name tech companies are set to release their second-quarter results in coming days, part of a busy week where more than a third of S&P 500 companies are due to report.

Expectations are high: Analysts forecast tech stocks in the S&P 500 will report 16 percent growth in earnings per share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. That’s up from a forecast of 10.9 percent growth a month ago. And companies will need to follow through on the expectations to justify the big moves their stock prices have already made.

“The group did have a strong start to the year, and there are some questions about how long tech can continue to rally,” said Ann Miletti, senior portfolio manager at Wells Fargo Asset Management. “Overall, what we’re believing to be true is that second-quarter results are going to come in, in general, better than expected. But the second-half outlook is the most important thing, and we’ll see.”

The International Monetary Fund on Monday held its forecast for global economic growth this year steady at 3.5 percent, but that masks some movements underneath. It raised its forecast for economic growth in Europe, Japan and China. But it also cut its outlook for the United States on the assumption that politicians in Washington won’t be as helpful for growth as earlier expected.

The Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee begins a two-day meeting on Tuesday, following its decision last month to raise short-term interest rates for the third time since December. The central bank also announced plans to start gradually paring its bond holdings later this year, a move that could cause rates to rise. Most investors expect the Fed to hold rates steady at this week’s meeting and possibly raise them one more time this year.

Investors in recent weeks have questioned whether the European Central Bank will begin to tap the brakes on its own stimulus for the economy.

Monday’s steepest loss in the S&P 500 came from Hasbro, which sank $10.95, or 9.4 percent, to $105.00 despite reporting stronger-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter. The stock had already been up nearly 50 percent for the year before the earnings release, and analysts said some investors may have been nervous after Hasbro cited some softness in its Brazil and U.K. markets.

Shares were also weak across the sporting goods retail industry after Hibbett Sports warned that its sales have been under even more pressure than analysts expected for the three months through July. Retailers of all types have been battling against increased competition from online rivals, some better than others.

Hibbett fell $6.60, or 33.5 percent, to $13.10. Foot Locker lost $2.16, or 4.6 percent, to $45.05, and Dick’s Sporting Goods dropped $2.04, or 5.5 percent, to $35.12.

On the opposite end was WebMD Health, which soared $10.91, or 19.8 percent, to $66.10 after a portfolio company of investment-firm KKR said it will buy the health information website for $66.50 per share in cash.

In overseas markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.6 percent, and South Korea’s Kospi inched up 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.5 percent, and India’s Sensex added 0.7 percent.

In Europe, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent, Germany’s DAX fell 0.3 percent and the FTSE 100 in London dropped 1 percent.

In the commodities market, benchmark U.S. crude rose 57 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $46.34 per barrel. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, rose 54 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $48.60 a barrel.

Natural gas fell 7 cents to $2.90 per 1,000 cubic feet. Wholesale gasoline slipped a penny to $1.56 a gallon and heating oil was nearly flat at $1.52 a gallon.

Gold fell 60 cents to settle at $1,254.30 per ounce, silver slipped 1 cent to $16.44 per ounce and copper added a penny to $2.74 per pound.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked up to 2.25 percent from 2.24 percent late Friday, and the two-year yield rose to 1.36 percent from 1.34 percent.

The euro dipped to $1.1645 from $1.1677 late Friday, the dollar ticked up to 111.11 Japanese yen from 111.04 yen and the British pound rose to $1.3036 from $1.3007.