How are energy investors positioned?
(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Pfizer up after raising full-year forecast
* McDonald's falls as global same-store sales disappoint
* 3M falls as quarterly profit misses estimates
* Indexes down: Dow 0.38%, S&P 0.23%, Nasdaq 0.50%
(Updates to open)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
July 28 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes fell on
Tuesday as lawmakers geared up for grueling talks over a
coronavirus relief package, with investors also weighing a mixed
batch of earnings reports from blue-chip companies.
Senate Republicans announced on Monday a $1 trillion aid
package hammered out with the White House — four days before
millions of Americans lose unemployment benefits — but the
proposal sparked immediate opposition from both Democrats and
some Republicans. Hopes of more government stimulus helped Wall Street's main
indexes rise on Monday, with traders also tracking corporate
America's forecasts for a business recovery and progress in
developing a COVID-19 vaccine.
Latest data showed U.S. consumer confidence ebbed in July
amid a flare-up in COVID-19 infections across the country.
The U.S. Federal Reserve also said it would extend several
of its lending facilities through the end of the year in a sign
the economic impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic has been
more prolonged than expected. "We're in a bit of a pause on the economic recovery while we
wait for more progress on the vaccine developments and
treatments," said Jeff Buchbinder, equity strategist at LPL
Financial in the Greater Boston Area.
Dow component 3M Co MMM.N dropped 5.1% as the industrial
conglomerate fell short of estimates on quarterly profit and
revenue, hurt by a plunge in demand across its business units.
McDonald's Corp MCD.N , another Dow constituent, fell 2%
after posting a bigger-than-expected drop in global same-store
sales and missing profit expectations as it restaurants were
shut due to the pandemic. Pfizer Inc PFE.N rose 3.1% after it raised its full-year
forecast on strong demand for cancer drugs and blood thinners.
Late on Monday, the drugmaker announced a pivotal global study
to evaluate a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. About 80% of the 130 S&P 500 companies that have reported,
surpassed significantly lowered forecasts for profit, according
to Refinitiv IBES data, better than the average of 71% companies
beating profit estimates over the past four quarters.
A major focus this week will be results from members of Wall
Street's trillion-dollar club — Apple Inc AAPL.O , Amazon.com
Inc AMZN.O , Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O — and Facebook Inc FB.O .
Technology stocks .SPLRCT weighed the heaviest on the
benchmark S&P 500 index.
At 10:11 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 99.76 points, or 0.38%, at 26,485.01, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 7.32 points, or 0.23%, at 3,232.09. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 52.37 points, or 0.50%, at 10,483.90.
The U.S. central bank is expected to reiterate its
accommodative stance when it wraps up its two-day policy meeting
on Wednesday afternoon.
Harley-Davidson Inc HOG.N slid 7.7% after it reported an
unexpected quarterly loss due to disruptions caused by the
pandemic. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.17-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.38-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 18 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 37 new highs and 10 new lows.