US Stock Indexes End Lower             07/16 16:04

   Stocks ended a five-day winning streak on Tuesday as investors cautiously 
assessed the first big round of corporate earnings reports.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks ended a five-day winning streak on Tuesday as 
investors cautiously assessed the first big round of corporate earnings reports.

   Technology companies fared the worst, weighed down by a 1.3% drop by 
Microsoft and a 1.9% slide from Intel.

   Johnson & Johnson led health care stocks lower with a drop of 1.6%. The 
health care and pharmaceutical company's full-year profit forecast remained 
mostly below analysts' projections.

   Financial stocks gave up early gains and turned mostly lower, although 
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase rose. Energy companies also fell broadly.

   Major indexes were mixed for much of the morning and turned lower at midday 
after President Donald Trump said: "We have a long way to go on tariffs with 
China."

   The S&P 500 fell 10.26 points, or 0.3%, to 3,004.04. That marks the first 
decline in the benchmark index after five days of gains.

   The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 23.53 points, or 0.1% to 27,335.63. 
The Nasdaq composite fell 35.39 points, or 0.4%. to 8,222.80.

   Small-company stocks rose slightly. The Russell 2000 index rose 0.17 point 
to 1,562.

   A surprisingly good retail sales report for June had little impact on 
consumer product makers, though it did help push bond prices lower. The yield 
on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.12% from 2.09% late Friday.

   Industrial companies fared the best. JB Hunt Transport Services jumped 5.6% 
after the company beat Wall Street's second quarter profit forecasts. The 
trucking and logistics company also told investors that it expects volume will 
pick up in the second half of the year. Several other trucking and 
cargo-related companies also made gains. Ryder System rose 3.7%, Old Dominion 
rose 3.2% and Union Pacific rose 1.4%.

   The latest round of corporate financial reports ramps up this week and 
investors have low expectations. Wall Street is forecasting a 2.6% drop in 
profit for S&P 500 companies. It is set to be the first back-to-back quarterly 
decline in three years.

   Investors are looking for reasons to remain cautious as companies release 
results and give forecasts for the remainder of the year, said Jack Ablin, 
chief investment officer for Cresset Wealth management.

   It's still early to tally results, but so far the share of companies beating 
profit forecasts has been high while many are reporting revenue shortfalls.

   "That certainly doesn't bode well for growth in the second half," he said. 

   Domino's Pizza shed 8.7% after the pizza chain fell far short of Wall Street 
forecasts for a key sales measure during the second quarter. Arrow Electronics 
fell 1.8% after the company slashed its profit forecast for the second quarter 
because of weak demand.

   Blue Apron surged 35.5% after the meal-kit company said it will start 
offering recipes with Beyond Meat's plant-based food. The company will start 
offering the options in August. Despite the surge, Blue Apron is still down 
more than 90% from its initial public offering two years ago.

   The influx of earnings reports are coming in ahead of a highly anticipated 
Federal Reserve meeting at the end of the month. Wall Street expects the 
central bank to raise interest rates to help secure U.S. economic growth 
threatened by a trade war with China.

   Investors are going to pay close attention to any second-half forecasts as 
companies continue to deal with trade uncertainties and the impact they could 
have on investments and expansion.

   Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.96 to settle at $57.62 per barrel. Brent crude, 
the international standard, lost $2.13 to $64.35 a barrel. Natural gas dropped 
10 cents to $2.31 per 1,000 cubic feet, heating oil fell 5 cents to $1.90 per 
gallon and wholesale gasoline lost 4 cents to $1.89 per gallon.

   The price of gold edged down $2.30 to $1,411.20 an ounce, silver rose 31 
cents to $15.60 an ounce and copper fell 1 cent to $2.69 a pound.

   The dollar rose to 108.34 Japanese yen from 107.90 late Friday. The euro 
fell to $1.1206 from $1.1259, and the British pound fell to $1.2406 from 
$1.2520. 


(BE)