Stocks Edged Lower as Investors Sought Positive Catalysts

U.S. stocks edged lower on Monday morning as investors found few reasons to keep pushing shares higher with major indexes near records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 1.93 points, or 0.01%, to 20,069.53. The S&P 500 fell 4.59 points, or 0.20%, to 2,292.83. The Nasdaq Composite slid 7.12 points, or 0.13%, to 5,659.64.

Tyson Foods TSN reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings and sales and raised its annual outlook, citing strong beef and pork sales. The company reported net income of $593 million, or $1.59 a share, compared with $461 million, or $1.15, in the year-earlier period. Revenue for the three-month period increased to $9.18 billion compared with $9.15 billion in the year-earlier period.

Hasbro Inc.’s revenue was helped in the fourth quarter by surging sales of products in its girls category. It earned $192.7 million, or $1.52 a share, compared with $175.8 million, or $1.39 a share, a year-earlier. Revenue rose 11% to $1.63 billion.

Toyota Motor Corp. reported a sharp decline in net profit for its fiscal third quarter, as the relatively strong yen continued to weigh on earnings. The company said its net profit fell to 486.5 billion yen ($4.3 billion) from Yen627.97 billion a year earlier. Revenue fell to Yen7 trillion from Yen7.34 trillion a year earlier.