Stocks dip amid mixed earnings reports
A mixed batch of corporate earnings helped drag the major U.S. stock indexes slightly lower Tuesday, pulling the market further from its recent record highs for the second straight day.
Mixed or disappointing reports from Under Armour, Dish Network, Corning, HCA and Beyond Meat and others weighed on the market. Capital One Financial slumped after the credit card issuer and bank disclosed that 100 million people had some personal information stolen by a hacker.
Apple climbed 3 percent in after-hours trading after its latest results handily beat analysts’ estimates.
Homebuilders also bucked the broader decline after D.R. Horton reported strong quarterly results and gains in new home orders.
This week’s modest market pullback came as investors looked cautiously ahead to a key policy update from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. That’s when the central bank is widely expected to cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in a decade. The Fed has decided that a rate cut now — and possibly one or more additional cuts to follow — could help inoculate the economy against a potential downturn.
“There’s just a lot of confusion on whether is there really going to be a rate cut, which the market seems to think there will be, and then if there’s going to be any indication of further rate cuts,” said Karyn Cavanaugh, senior markets strategist at Voya Investment Management.
The S&P 500 index fell 7.79 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,013.18. Despite its twoday slide, the benchmark index remains within 0.4 percent of its all-time high set on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 23.33 points, or 0.1 percent, to 27,198.02. The Nasdaq composite slid 19.71 points, or 0.2 percent, to 8,273.61.
Small-company stocks fared better than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index rose 16.57 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,585.60.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.06 percent from 2.05 percent late Monday.
Even with the broader market pullback this week, indexes are still poised to close July with solid gains. The S&P 500 is up 2.4 percent for the month and the Nasdaq is up 3.3 percent. The Dow is up 2.3 percent.
Technology stocks accounted for the biggest share of the selling Tuesday. Communications services stocks, retailers and health care companies also weighed on the market.
Energy stocks led the gainers, benefiting from a 2.1 percent pickup in U.S. crude oil prices. Benchmark crude oil rose $1.18 to settle at $58.05 a barrel. Natural gas was unchanged at $2.14 per 1,000 cubic feet.