NEW YORK — Disappointing earnings from a range of companies pushed the stock market lower on Thursday, giving major indexes their third loss this week. NEW YORK — Disappointing earnings from a range of companies pushed the stock market lower
NEW YORK — Disappointing earnings from a range of companies pushed the stock market lower on Thursday, giving major indexes their third loss this week.
The stock prices of Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth Group and others sank after they turned in weaker quarterly results. Prices of commodities held steady following a wild couple of days. Government bond yields remained near their lowest point of the year as investors sought safety.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 10.40 points to close at 1,541.61, a decline of 0.7 percent.
Compared with the steep drops earlier this week, the losses Thursday looked tame. The S&P 500 lost 2 percent on Monday, its worst day of the year, when a slowdown in China’s economic growth set off a rout in prices for gold, oil and other commodities and pummeled the stocks of companies that make them. After reaching a record high a week ago, the index has now slumped 3 percent.
Profit slipped at Morgan Stanley as the bank made less money from trading bonds and commodities, a common theme for many investment banks this earnings season. Morgan Stanley lost 5 percent to $20.31.
UnitedHealth’s profit fell short of analysts’ estimates, and the country’s largest health insurer said it expects federal budget cuts to pressure its earnings this year. Its stock lost 4 percent to $59.69.
EBay fell 6 percent to $52.82 after the online auction company cut its profit forecast for this quarter.
The market didn’t get any help from economic news Thursday. Investors pointed to reports that more people applied for unemployment benefits last week and manufacturing slowed in the mid-Atlantic region. Those reports followed several recent signs of weakness in the economy, including a sharp slowdown in hiring last month and poor retail sales.
The market’s drop was tempered by better profits at Verizon, Pepsi and Union Pacific. Verizon Communications’ profit beat analysts’ predictions as wireless revenue kept rising at a rate of 9 percent, the envy of the industry. Pepsi net income and revenue also surpassed estimates.
Verizon’s stock gained 3 percent to $50.91, while Pepsi’s climbed 3 percent to $81.25.
Higher shipping rates pushed Union Pacific’s profit up 11 percent, and the railroad said it expects to ship more goods later this year. Union Pacific rose 4 percent to $142.46.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 81.45 points to 14,537.14, down 0.6 percent. The Nasdaq composite lost 38.31 points to 3,166.36, down 1.2 percent.
Treasury prices rose and their yields fell as traders moved money into low-risk assets. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped back to 1.68 percent.
