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* 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 0.35%, S&P 0.08%, Nasdaq 0.39%
(Adds quote, details; Updates prices)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
July 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as lawmakers
geared up for grueling talks over a coronavirus aid plan, with
the blue-chip Dow index weighed down by 3M and McDonald's shares
after the companies reported quarterly profits that missed
estimates.
Industrial conglomerate 3M Co MMM.N dropped 4.3% as it
reported a plunge in demand across its business units in the
second quarter. McDonald's Corp MCD.N fell 2% after posting a
bigger-than-expected drop in global same-store sales and missing
profit expectations, as its restaurants were shut due to the
pandemic. Pfizer Inc PFE.N , on the other hand, rose 2.7% 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.
Of the 130 S&P 500 companies that have reported, about 80%
of them 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 rally in U.S. stocks slowed recently as investors worried
about signs of a stalling economic recovery amid a resurgence in
coronavirus cases, while awaiting progress on government
stimulus talks.
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. Latest data showed U.S. consumer confidence ebbed in July
amid a flare-up in coronavirus 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 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 vaccine developments and treatments,"
said Jeff Buchbinder, equity strategist at LPL Financial in the
Greater Boston Area.
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 most on the
benchmark S&P 500 index.
At 11:14 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 93.57 points, or 0.35%, at 26,491.20, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 2.52 points, or 0.08%, at 3,236.89. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 41.09 points, or 0.39%, at 10,495.18.
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 7.8% after reporting an
unexpected quarterly loss due to disruptions caused by the virus
outbreak. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.10-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.59-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 21 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 42 new highs and 15 new lows.