A day of mostly listless trading on Wall Street ended Wednesday with modest losses as the stock market gave back some of its gains from the day before.
The S&P 500 index lost 5.99 points, or 0.2%, to 2,989.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 22.82 points, or 0.1%, to 27,001.98. The Nasdaq fell 24.52 points, or 0.3%, to 8,124.18. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks eked out a tiny gain, adding 1.76 points, or 0.1%, at 1,525.06.
Technology stocks accounted for most of the selling, which lost some of its momentum toward the end of the day. Energy companies also fell. Financial-sector stocks declined as bond yields, which are used to set interest rates on loans, headed lower.
Advancers outweighed decliners on the New York Stock Exchange. The benchmark S&P 500 remains within 1.2% of its record high set in July.
A move on Tuesday by the House of Representatives to show support for the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong appeared to dim some investor optimism about the prospects for progress in the latest trade talks between the U.S. and China.
"We're in the height of earnings season and the results that we got last night, as well as this morning, I would characterize as better than feared," said Cayman Wills, global head of equities at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. "On the other side of the pendulum, you have this development on U.S.-China trade relations, and the pro-democracy position that Congress took skews slightly negative."
Stocks got off to a downbeat start Wednesday as investors sized up a mixed batch of economic data and company earnings reports.
The Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales fell in September by the largest amount in seven months. That stoked worries that consumers are pulling back on spending.
A slowdown in retail sales is concerning because consumer spending is a key growth driver for the U.S. economy, which has slowed this year as the trade war between the U.S. and China has escalated.
Stocks are on track to notch gains this week, in part because investors have mostly set aside concerns over the trade negotiations in favor of focusing on corporate earnings for the third quarter. Stocks rallied on Tuesday after surprisingly good earnings and hopeful forecasts.
Even so, company earnings for the third quarter are expected to be down by nearly 5%, according to FactSet.
Traders bid up shares in United Airlines by 2.1% and Bank of America 1.5% on Wednesday after the companies reported third-quarter results that topped Wall Street's forecasts.
A mixed third-quarter report card weighed on insurer Progressive, which dropped 2.8%.
Microsoft and Adobe were among the big decliners in the technology sector. Microsoft slid 0.8%, and Adobe dropped 2.4%.
Companies that rely on consumer spending led the gainers. Advance Auto Parts picked up 1.9%.
Homebuilders marched broadly higher after an industry survey showed builders' confidence increased to the highest level since February 2018. Beazer Homes USA gained 3.6%.
General Motors rose 1.1% after the auto company and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative deal.
A potential settlement in the opioid epidemic involving some of the nation's largest drug distributors helped lift their shares. McKesson rose 4.8%, AmerisourceBergen climbed 3.4%, and Cardinal Health added 2.4%.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.75% from 1.77% late Tuesday.
Information for this article was contributed by Damian J. Troise of The Associated Press.
Business on 10/17/2019