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* Cisco Systems drops after lackluster forecast
* Caterpillar rises as Goldman Sachs upgrades to 'buy'
* New cases in China jump under new diagnosis method
* Indexes down: Dow 0.32%, S&P 0.21%, Nasdaq 0.30%
(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh
Feb 13 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes eased from
record highs on Thursday, pressured by shares of Cisco after its
disappointing quarterly forecast, while a spike in new
coronavirus cases in China weighed on the sentiment.
The Chinese province at the center of the coronavirus
outbreak reported a record rise in deaths and thousands more
infections using a new diagnostic method, casting fresh
uncertainty over the scale of the virus outbreak. A day earlier, investors had bought on signs that the virus
spread was slowing, lifting the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX and the
Nasdaq .IXIC to their third straight closing highs. Dow Jones
Industrials .DJI settled at an all-time high on Wednesday for
the first time since Feb 6.
"The virus news coming out of China (is) a bit concerning,
especially when investors thought it was all behind them," said
Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in
Chicago.
"We are also due for at least a little bit of a pullback."
Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O shares declined more than 6%, the
biggest drag on the three indexes, after the network gear
maker's lackluster revenue and profit forecasts. NetApp Inc NTAP.O tumbled about 11% as the data storage
equipment maker's current-quarter profit forecast fell short of
expectations.
Technology stocks .SPLRCT , which have surged more than 10%
this year, slipped 0.4%. Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were
lower.
At 9:54 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 95.16 points, or 0.32%, at 29,456.26 and the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 7.01 points, or 0.21%, at 3,372.44. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 28.81 points, or 0.30%, at 9,697.15.
Among other stocks, Kraft Heinz Co KHC.O shed 7.6% as it
missed quarterly sales estimates and wrote down the value of
some businesses - including coffee brand Maxwell House - by $666
million. Caterpillar Inc CAT.N rose 0.4% after Goldman Sachs
upgraded the construction and mining equipment maker's shares to
"buy".
The fourth-quarter earnings season is winding down with 351
S&P 500 companies having reported so far. Of those, 70.9% have
topped profit estimates, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.31-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.45-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 24 new 52-week highs and two new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 46 new highs and 23 new lows.