NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks dodged bigger losses Wednesday and finished barely lower. Health care companies fell and Apple pulled technology companies down, but bank shares rose.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 30.06 points, or 0.2 percent, to 18,199.33. The Standard & Poor's 500 index sank 3.73 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,139.43. The Nasdaq composite shed 33.13 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,250.27.
Earlier in the day, stocks had appeared to be headed for a second day of notable losses, but they recovered some of that lost ground in late trading. Weak earnings for major companies hurt real-estate investment trusts and health care companies. Tech stocks slid as investors were unimpressed with Apple's latest results.
Stocks haven't made many big moves in the past two weeks. "Trading volume has really dropped off," said Scott Wren, a senior global equity strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute. He said investors are being cautious as they wait for the outcome of the presidential election.
While individual companies might rise or fall based on their earnings, Wren said investors don't care that much if overall corporate profits rise or fall this quarter. Earnings have been falling for more than a year but the drops are getting smaller.
"All the market wants in terms of earnings is a continuation of a pattern this year of quarter-to-quarter improvement," he said.
Apple shares sank $2.66, or 2.2 percent, to $115.59 after it reported another drop in iPhone sales. Apple gets about two-thirds of its revenue from the iPhone and some investors are concerned it depends too much on its marquee product. The company expects sales to start growing again in the holiday season after a recent slump.
The losses for Apple, by far the biggest company in the S&P 500, sent tech stocks lower. That canceled out big jumps in Akamai Technologies and Juniper Networks, which each surged more than 10 percent after strong results.
Medical-device maker Edwards Lifesciences reported disappointing sales of heart devices and forecast another shortfall in the current quarter, and its stock slid $19.43, or 17.1 percent, to $94.25. Medical-lab operator Laboratory Corp. of America sank $11.95, or 8.6 percent, to $126.46 after a disappointing report. Drugmaker Merck gave up most of its gains from the previous day and fell $1.08, or 1.7 percent, to $60.87.
Simon Property Group, which owns more than 100 shopping malls around the country, slumped after analysts worried about its performance, including lower income from stores that have been open for more than a year. That counteracted solid earnings, and its stock fell $8.89, or 4.5 percent, to $188.38.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.79 percent from 1.76 percent.
Mondelez, the maker of Oreo cookies, Cadbury chocolate and Trident gum, climbed after reporting a bigger profit than analysts expected. The company's stock picked up $1.56, or 3.6 percent, to $44.32.
The price of oil fell for the third day in a row. U.S. crude fell 78 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $49.18 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 81 cents, to 1.6 percent, to $49.98 a barrel in London.
Business on 10/27/2016