US STOCKS-Wall Street on edge after Hong Kong protests bill

Published 16/10/2019, 15:28
Updated 16/10/2019, 15:36
© Reuters.  US STOCKS-Wall Street on edge after Hong Kong protests bill

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* BofA, PNC, BNY Mellon rise on strong results

* Drug distributors seek to settle opioid lawsuits-WSJ

* United Airlines gains on raising 2019 profit forecast

* Indexes off: Dow 0.21%, S&P 500 0.25%, Nasdaq 0.44%

(Updates to open)

By Shreyashi Sanyal and Arjun Panchadar

Oct 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street inched lower on Wednesday, as

a congressional bill related to the Hong Kong protests stoked

fears of more friction with China, even as another round of

positive earnings reports underlined a solid start to

third-quarter results.

Bank of America BAC.N rose 2.2% after beating analysts'

estimates for third-quarter profit as the second-largest U.S.

bank by assets earned more in advisory fees and grew its loan

book. PNC Financial Services Group Inc PNC.N and Bank of New

York Mellon Corp BK.N also rose after better-than-expected

earnings. The reports followed robust results on Tuesday from JPMorgan

Chase & Co JPM.N and Citigroup Inc C.N , showing consumer

confidence remained strong despite recession fears that have led

businesses to pull back on spending and borrowing. "We had a pretty good celebration yesterday after the first

busy day of earnings and we got another busy day today, so I

think that the path of least resistance is a little bit lower

today," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National

Securities in New York.

The S&P 500 bank sector .SPXBK gained 0.4% after hitting a

one-year high on Tuesday.

Analysts have forecast the worst quarterly earnings season

in nearly three years for S&P 500 companies, as domestic

economic growth shows signs of slowing on the fallout from the

tariff war with China.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed

legislation related to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. In

response, China warned that bilateral relations would be damaged

if the measures became law. Conflicting reports on an orderly exit for Britain from the

European Union also added to the mix. But analysts project market action to turn positive through

the session, as optimism from solid earnings reports overshadows

mixed political headlines.

Early action showed advancing issues outnumbered decliners

by a 1.02-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.09-to-1 ratio on the

Nasdaq.

At 10:01 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was

down 57.19 points, or 0.21 percent, at 26,967.61, the S&P 500

.SPX was down 7.62 points, or 0.25 percent, at 2,988.06 and

the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 36.04 points, or 0.44

percent, at 8,112.66.

United Airlines UAL.O was up 1.2% after beating analyst

estimates for quarterly profit, and increased its 2019 profit

target. Abbott Laboratories ABT.N fell 1.8% after the medical

device maker trimmed the upper end of its full-year earnings

forecast and missed quarterly revenue estimates. Its results were in sharp contrast to Johnson & Johnson

JNJ.N and UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N on Tuesday.

Adobe Inc ADBE.O fell 3.8% after Citigroup downgraded the

photoshop software maker's stock. It was among the biggest drags

on the tech sector.

Tech heavyweights Netflix Inc NFLX.O and International

Business Machines IBM.N are due to report later on Wednesday.

McKesson MCK.N , AmerisourceBergen ABC.N and Cardinal

Health CAH.N jumped between 5% and 6% after a report that the

drug distributors were in talks with state and local governments

to settle thousands of opioid lawsuits for $18 billion.

Data on Wednesday showed a fall in U.S. retail sales for the

first time in seven months in September.

The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and no new

low, while the Nasdaq recorded 13 new highs and 36 new lows.

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