Stocks fell on Wednesday as the corporate earnings season rolled on with companies like CSX and Bank of America releasing their quarterly numbers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 81.47 points to wind up Wednesday’s session at 27,254.16
The S&P 500 docked 19.62 points to 2,984.42
The NASDAQ Composite slid 37.59 points to 8,185.21
Bank of America reported better-than-expected earnings on Wednesday, driven by the strength of its retail banking operation. However, the company’s CFO warned that lower rates would hit its net interest income growth. The stock rose around 0.7%.
CSX posted Tuesday after the close weaker-than-forecast quarterly results, sending its stock down more than 10%, its biggest one-day drop since 2008. The company also said it expects full-year revenue to fall between 1% and 2%. CSX’s decline pushed the Dow Transports down 3.6%.
United Airlines, meanwhile, reported earnings and revenue that topped analyst expectations and increased its share buyback program by $3 billion.
Cintas shares jumped more than 8% after the First Aid kit maker’s results beat expectations.
More than 7% of S&P 500 companies have reported second-quarter earnings thus far. Of those companies, about 85% have posted profits that beat analyst expectations. The reported earnings growth of those companies is about 3.1%.
Investors came into the earnings season with a bleak outlook on corporate profits. Analysts expected S&P 500 earnings to have fallen by 3% in the second quarter
Netflix, IBM and eBay are all scheduled to report after the close on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s moves come after stocks posted slight losses in the previous session after President Donald Trump’s skeptical comments on the ongoing U.S.-China trade war.
Trump on Tuesday said the world’s two largest economies have a “long way to go” on trade, and suggested that the U.S. could impose sanctions on an additional $325 billion worth of Chinese goods.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose sharply, lowering yields to 2.05% from Tuesday’s 2.11%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $1.07 at $56.55 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices climbed $16.50 to $1,427.70 U.S. an ounce.
