Stocks slip ahead of a busy week for company earnings news

Stocks are falling in afternoon trading after initially making gains following a report that China’s economy grew at a 5% annual rate in the last quarter

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks fell in afternoon trading Monday after initially making gains following a report that China’s economy grew at a 5% annual rate in the last quarter.

Investors are also preparing for a busy week of corporate earnings reports. Procter & Gamble, Netflix and IBM are a few of the larger companies that will reveal the extent of the virus pandemic’s impact during the most recent quarter.

The benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 12:58 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average of big blue chips was down 0.2%, or 65 points, to 28,541. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%.

Small company stocks were doing better. The Russell 2000 rose 0.2%.

The solid performance for smaller stocks is a sign that the overall economy is still healing, said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. The Russell has gained 8.6% in October, outpacing the 3.2% gain for the broader S&P 500.

“We sense that there are indications that the economy and fundamental backdrop for stocks is still improving,” Sandven said.

Market gains in October have also been much broader after being driven by technology companies for much of the year, he said.

China was the first country to suffer coronavirus outbreaks and the first major economy to emerge from the pandemic and begin reopening from shutdowns. That’s providing a boost to other countries like the U.S. and Japan that rely on trade with China. After contracting 6.8% in the first quarter of this year the Chinese economy grew 3.2% in the April-June quarter and 4.9% in July-September.

ConocoPhillips fell less than 1% after the oil giant announced it would buy Concho Resources for $9.7 billion. The deal is the largest in the oil industry since crude prices plummeted this year due to the COVID pandemic.

In the U.S., the focus remains on the potential for new stimulus measures for the economy, but hopes for agreeing on a new package soon were muted. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said time is running out to get measures passed before the Nov. 3 election.

Investors have been hoping that Washington would provide more financial support for the economy since July, when a supplemental $600-a-week unemployment benefit package ran out.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to bring a his version of a stimulus bill to the floor of the Senate for a vote on Wednesday. However that bill is likely to get zero traction with the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.

Wall Street still expects more aid from the federal government but the markets are pausing over the uncertainty about timing. Meanwhile, the virus remains a concern and the election will likely make for a volatile few weeks.

“We’re in a period here in the the next couple of weeks where the market goes sideways through the election,” Sandven said.

European stocks mostly fell. The German DAX lost 0.4%, France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.1% and the FTSE 100 in London slipped 0.6%.

Stocks in Asia ended mixed. The Nikkei 225 index added 1.1% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.6%. The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.7%.