US close: Stocks lower as Q2 tech earnings come into focus

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.14% at 40,358.09, while the S&P 500 lost 0.16% to 5,555.74 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.06% weaker at 17,997..35.

The Dow closed 57.35 points lower on Tuesday, taking a modest bite out of gains recorded in the previous session.

Google parent company Alphabet met expectations with its latest quarterly earnings report but YouTube advertising revenues fell short of estimates, while electric carmaker Tesla's quarterly earnings nearly halved as price cuts put pressure on profits.

Elsewhere, soft drinks giant Coca-Cola hiked its full-year guidance on the back of increased global demand throughout Q2, while cigarette maker Philip Morris reported a 34% jump in quarterly profits amidst an "outstanding" quarter in which revenues topped estimates.

On the macro front, existing home sales fell by 5.4% in June, according to the National Association of Realtors, hitting an annualised rate of 3.89m units, the sharpest monthly decline since 2022.

"We're seeing a slow shift from a seller's market to a buyer's market,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. "Homes are sitting on the market a bit longer, and sellers are receiving fewer offers. More buyers are insisting on home inspections and appraisals, and inventory is definitively rising on a national basis."

On another note, the Richmond Federal Reserve's manufacturing index declined for a second month in a row, hitting -17 in July for the lowest reading since May 2020, down from -10 in June and missing expectations of a slight improvement to -7.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $186.50 4.24%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $208.49 1.51%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $491.09 1.05%
American Express Co. (AXP) $246.79 0.88%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $256.21 0.78%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $225.01 0.47%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $444.85 0.43%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $70.65 0.38%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $64.88 0.29%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $210.33 0.02%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $90.94 -3.39%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $253.59 -2.12%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $73.40 -1.95%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $154.05 -1.85%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.95 -1.26%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $152.35 -1.23%
Visa Inc. (V) $264.79 -1.09%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $344.28 -1.06%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $124.23 -1.04%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $359.61 -1.00%

S&P 500 - Risers

Pentair plc (PNR) $86.82 9.00%
Msci Inc. (MSCI) $544.84 7.90%
Sherwin-Williams Co. (SHW) $344.48 6.87%
Zions Bancorporation (ZION) $52.53 6.16%
General Electric Co. (GE) $172.00 5.68%
Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) $499.88 5.63%
Danaher Corp. (DHR) $263.81 5.30%
Boeing Co. (BA) $186.50 4.24%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $1.49 4.20%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $19.07 3.53%

S&P 500 - Fallers

United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) $127.68 -12.05%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $97.10 -10.97%
Smith A O Corp. (AOS) $80.47 -9.39%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $17.24 -7.71%
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) $135.71 -5.73%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $101.28 -4.66%
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) $140.76 -4.34%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $230.32 -4.05%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $198.29 -3.69%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $89.71 -3.66%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $3.80 8.88%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $320.23 2.32%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $186.41 2.11%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $163.77 1.68%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.74 1.19%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $65.80 0.94%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $151.71 0.84%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $19.01 0.80%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $19.38 0.62%
Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $123.71 0.59%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $97.10 -10.97%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $230.32 -4.05%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $198.29 -3.69%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $89.71 -3.66%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $58.28 -2.62%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $38.51 -2.58%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $33.64 -2.52%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $26.19 -2.46%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $46.26 -2.20%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $756.04 -2.07%