NEW YORK : U.S. stocks turned lower on Tuesday as investors scrutinized a spate of corporate earnings while crude extended its slide due to easing supply worries and weakening demand.
The three major U.S. indexes hovered in early trading before heading lower, with the S&P 500 and the Dow easing back from Monday’s record closing highs.
Financial firms Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America all posted better-than-expected profit, while healthcare companies UnitedHealth and Johnson & Johnson results underwhelmed investors.
“The stock market had a pretty strong day yesterday, and at the moment (stocks are) near all-time highs,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist Ingalls & Snyder in New York. “The focus here is on earnings … and, as usual, earnings will be somewhat mixed.”
“This is a waiting period and the market is stuck in neutral before we see more earnings reports,” Ghriskey added.
Energy stocks, pulled lower by sliding crude prices, suffered the steepest percentage drop.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 141.91 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 42,923.71, the S&P 500 fell 20.63 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 5,839.44 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 146.31 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 18,357.27.
European stocks edged away from Monday’s two-week high, dragged lower by mining and energy stocks, while investors scrutinized corporate earnings and kept their focus on the European Central Bank’s rate decision on Thursday.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 3.29 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 854.06.
The STOXX 600 index fell 0.55 per cent, while Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 13.20 points, or 0.63 per cent.
Emerging market stocks fell 10.33 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 1,149.73. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.83 per cent lower at 608.61, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 304.75 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 39,910.55.
Oil prices slid to a