Weak earnings weigh on stocks

Investors have been second-guessing the strength of company results this week, and they found more reasons to do so Thursday.

Disappointing earnings and outlooks from several big companies, including American Express, Caterpillar and 3M, helped drag U.S. stocks lower for a third day in a row. The losing streak has nudged the Dow Jones industrial average into negative territory for the year.

While companies have mostly reported betterthan-anticipated profits since the start of the month, many have fallen short when it comes to revenue. Others have issued cautious outlooks, citing the strength of the dollar, a slowing economy in China or falling oil prices. That’s giving investors reason to pause.

What investors need to push stocks higher again is “true revenue growth from the corporate sector, which we just haven’t seen,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab & Co.

Amazon bucked the trend, jumping 15% in afterhours trading on betterthan-expected earnings.

The Dow slid 119.12 points, or 0.7%, to 17,731.92. The average is now down 0.5% for the year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 12 points, or 0.6%, to 2,102.15. Utilities and materials stocks fell the most among the 10 industry groups on the index.

The Nasdaq composite declined 25.36 points, or 0.5%, to 5,146.41. The tech-focused index, which hit a high Monday, remains the bestperforming index for the year. It’s up 8.7%, compared with 2.1% for the S&P 500.