Prior to Thursday’s pullback, both the Dow and S&P 500 have been hitting records after taking out their prior peaks dating back to May 2015. Utilities fell 0.5 percent.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 78 points, or 0.4%, to 18517, and the S&P 500 fell 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP – 5,073.90) dropped 16 points, or 0.3%.
“We know the USA equity market has benefitted from being viewed as a safe haven relative to the rest of the world, but when we look at corporate fundamentals, it suggests we need to proceed with caution”, said Carin Pai, director of equity strategy at Fiduciary Trust Company International. But various earnings and economic reports have come in better than expected, and the S&P 500 is up almost 9 percent since June 27.
Southwestern Energy had the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after its own better-than-expected earnings report. Analysts expect net income among S&P 500 members will slide 5.8 percent in the second quarter for a fifth straight decline.
American Airlines Group also rose despite reporting a drop in earnings.
Intel sank $1.42, or 4 percent, to $34.27 after reporting slower revenue growth for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
USA stocks rose on Wednesday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 hitting fresh records, as Microsoft’s strong results boosted optimism regarding the health of quarterly earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 65 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,516.
The Nasdaq is up 82.52 points, or 1.6 percent. S&P 500 futures slipped just 0.01 percent to 2,167.30.
EUROPE POST-BREXIT: Investors are watching for the news conference later in the day by the European Central Bank to see what actions might be ahead to shore up the European economy. “I think it’s interesting; a half-a-percent move down feels like a 5 percent move”.
Next week could be more exciting. The U.S. Federal Reserve meets next week and policymakers are expected to decide when they will next raise interest rates.
The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P and Nasdaq.
Japan’s economy is barely growing.
The Fed pulled rates off their record low in December but has held pat since then.
European markets were mostly higher, while Asia’s day was mixed. France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.1 percent, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dipped 0.2 percent.
COMMODITIES: The price of USA crude oil fell 78 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $44.95 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline fell 1 cent to $1.36 a gallon, heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.41 a gallon and natural gas fell 7 cents to $2.66 per 1,000 cubic feet. Brent crude, the global benchmark, declined 68 cents or 1.4% to settle at $46.49 a barrel.
Precious metals traded lower on Wednesday.
The yuan jumped as much as 0.28 per cent to 6.6780 per United States dollar amid speculation China’s central bank is trying to prevent the currency from weakening beyond 6.70, a threshold that was breached this week for the first time since 2010. On the Nasdaq, 1,559 issues fell and 1,155 advanced.
CURRENCIES: The euro fell to $1.1005 from $1.1015 late Tuesday, and the British pound rose to $1.3174 from $1.3093.
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“The earnings bar was low especially for financials, but when you have Microsoft and all these financials trading better it just encourages people”, Michael Block, chief strategist at Rhino Trading Partners LLC in NY, said by phone.
