Weak earnings reports send stocks down

NEW YORK — Stocks retreated Thursday from record highs as large companies delivered weak earnings reports and disappointing forecasts.

The daylong slide marked a turnaround from Wednesday, when a series of solid earnings helped push major indexes to records. This is one of the busiest weeks in the latest round of corporate earnings. The market has been volatile since reports started trickling in last week.

The market has been swinging up and down for the past two weeks as investors reward and punish corporate earnings, but the overall picture shows solid performances. More than 75 percent of S&P 500 companies reporting so far have beaten somewhat tempered forecasts.

“It’s a pretty low bar to chin, and a lot of companies have chinned it,” said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management.

The S&P 500 index fell 15.89 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,003.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 128.99 points, or 0.5 percent, to 27,140.98. The Nasdaq composite fell 82.96 points, or 1 percent, to 8,238.54.

Technology stocks sustained the steepest declines throughout the day. Digital payments company PayPal slid 5.1 percent after cutting its revenue forecast. Microsoft and Apple also fell. Ford slid 7.5 percent and sent automakers and consumer-oriented stocks lower after reporting a severe drop in profit that fell shy of analysts’ forecasts.

Align Technology plummeted 27 percent after the maker of the Invisalign dental system gave investors a surprisingly weak forecast because of weak demand in China. The company held down the rest of the health care sector.

American Airlines shed 8.4 percent after warning investors of hefty costs because of the grounding of Boeing 737 Max jets. Both companies weighed down the industrial sector.

Tesla slumped 13.6 percent after the electric car maker reported a surprisingly sharp loss during the second quarter. It also announced the departure of its longtime chief technology officer.

A 1.9 percent drop from Facebook pushed communications stocks lower after the social media company’s latest disclosure that it is being investigated over allegedly anti-competitive behavior.

More than 36 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported their latest financial results, and investors are expecting a contraction in overall profit. That would mark the second quarter in a row of lower earnings.

Industrial and technology stocks, which have been contending with the effects of trade disputes and tariffs, will feel some of the most severe profit contractions, according to FactSet.

Benchmark crude oil rose 14 cents to $56.02 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 21 cents to $63.39.