Stocks finished in negative territory for the second day in a row Wednesday as investors hunkered down for another day of second-quarter-earnings reports.
The Dow slipped 115 points, or 0.42%, to 27,219.85. The S&P 500 was down 0.65%, ending below 3,000 at 2,984.42, while the Nasdaq eased 0.46% to 8,185.21.
"Stocks' strong gains are finally succumbing to profit-taking as second quarter earnings season heats up," said Alec Young, managing director of global markets research, FTSE Russell. "While it's still early, earnings and guidance so far has been mixed and, given the big run-up, it's no surprise there's little investor tolerance for even a hint of disappointment. It also hasn't helped that President Trump's tweets have reminded everyone a Chinese trade deal remains a long way off."
Young added that "while there's still plenty of time for companies to meet investors' high profit hopes, the clock is ticking."
After the bell, shares of Netflix fell sharply as the company reported weak subscriber growth. See our live blog.
David Marcus, head of Facebook's (FB) Calibra unit, told members of the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday that the social media giant won't launch its proposed cryptocurrency, Libra, until regulatory approvals are granted following a review.
This was the second day of congressional hearings for Marcus. On Tuesday, he appeared before the Senate Banking Committee. Shares were off 1% to $201.80.
In economic news, housing starts slipped 0.9% to an annual pace of 1.25 million last month. Permits dropped 6.1% to a 1.22 million rate. Economists had expected housing starts to drop to a seasonally adjusted 1.24 million rate from a revised 1.27 million in the prior month.
"The housing starts number this morning came in little lighter than expected - 7,000 fewer for this month and a net revision of down 4,000 in the prior month - but largely in line with expectations," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance.
"The real story in this month's report was the drop in multifamily homes, which dropped a little over 9%. Meanwhile stand-alone homes increased almost 4%, which could either signal a shift from renting to buying or even a new desire for people downsizing to buy new homes."
CSX (CSX) shares fell 10.3% to $71.38 after the third-largest U.S. rail operator slashed its full-year revenue forecast amid slowing freight volumes linked to the trade dispute between Washington and Beijing. CSX is Real Money's Stock of the Day.
Buy the Dip in CSX Stock on Earnings Tumble?Cannabis stocks were higher after Ladenburg Thalmann Analyst Glenn Mattson initiated coverage of Canopy Growth (CGC) and Aurora (ACB) at buy and Tilray (TLRY) at neutral.
Canopy rose 3% to $36.62, Aurora climbed 3.3% to $7.39 and Acreage Holdings (ACRGF) advanced 4.2% to $15. Only Tilray dipped slightly to $44.25.
Bank of America ( BAC) shares rose nearly 1% to $29.26 after the second-biggest U.S. lender posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter profit. Increased loans and deposits boosted interest income.Shares of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) rose 3.1% to $85.77 after the medical device maker posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings and boosted its full-year profit guidance.
ASML Holding (ASML) jumped 6.2% to $217.67 after the semiconductor supplier maintained its bullish second-half outlook. Stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings suggest global chip demand is starting to recover.
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