Stocks slide over disappointing earnings reports

U.S. stocks retreated from record highs on Wall Street Thursday as large companies delivered weak earnings 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 last 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 have so far beat 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. 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 consumeroriented stocks lower after reporting a severe drop in profit that fell shy of analysts’ forecasts.

More than 36 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported their latest financial results and investors are still 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 impact of trade disputes and tariffs, will feel some of the most severe profit contractions, according to FactSet.