Mining companies lead stocks lower; Dow falls 253 pts

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks closed sharply lower Thursday after a big rally the day before. Mining companies fell along with the price of gold and copper, while a proposed congressional budget deal sent solar power companies higher. Indexes jumped Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 253 points, or 1.4 percent, to 17,496. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 31 points, or 1 percent, to 2,042. The Nasdaq composite index lost 69 points, or 1.4 percent, to 5,003.

The biggest losers on the S&P 500 were energy and mining companies. Those have been the worst-performing sectors in 2015.

Stocks jumped Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, a long-expected vote of confidence in the U.S. economy. Investors were encouraged that the Fed emphasized that further increases will be gradual. The Fed hadn't raised interest rates since 2006. The S&P 500 finished the day 1.5 percent higher, and stocks in Europe and Asia also rallied. The market is coming off a three-day winning streak.

Shipping company FedEx said its quarterly profit grew as online shopping increased and costs in its express-delivery business came down. FedEx also said it thinks holiday shipments will rise by more than 12 percent from a year ago.

The price of gold sank 2.3 percent to $1,052 an ounce while silver decreased 3.6 percent to $13.74 an ounce and copper fell 1.4 percent to $2.04 a pound. Newmont Mining and Freeport-McMoRan both declined.

Solar power stocks continued to rise after Congress agreed to extend a federal tax credit for commercial and residential solar products. Leading Democrats and Republicans reportedly agreed to extend the 30-percent credit through 2019, after which it will wind down over two years. The credit was scheduled to fall in 2017 and be eliminated in 2018.

SolarCity gained, as did Sunrun.

"This was one of the biggest risks confronting the industry over the last year," said Angelica Jarvenpaa, research associate for Raymond James. She said solar power companies didn't know if the tax credit would be allowed to expire.

Jarvenpaa said the agreement is "among the best case scenarios" for solar power because it tells companies what they can expect for the next several years.

Streaming music company Pandora Media surged. A panel of copyright judges raised the amount that streaming companies like Pandora have to pay to record labels, but less than many had expected.

Business software maker Oracle slipped after the company reported a smaller quarterly profit. Its revenue also fell short of analyst forecasts.

The dollar climbed. While the Fed is raising interest rates, central banks in Europe and Japan are planning to lower them. That will make the dollar even stronger. A strong dollar hurts U.S. exporters but makes imports cheaper.

The euro dropped to $1.0815 from $1.0970. The dollar rose to 122.63 yen from 121.85 yen.

Benchmark U.S. crude dipped 62 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $34.90 a barrel in New York. U.S. oil fell almost 5 percent on Wednesday. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, fell 17 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $37.22 a barrel in London. Natural gas, which has fallen to 16-year lows, was unchanged at $1.79 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Avon Products rose after the beauty products retailer said it will sell its North American business to Cerberus Capital Management for $170 million. Cerberus will also invest $435 million in the remaining Avon business.

U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.26 percent from 2.30 percent late Wednesday.