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 AT&T Inc <T.N> fell 3.8 percent to $34.92 a day after the Dow
component reported earnings that beat expectations, offset by weak
service revenue growth. Verizon Communications <VZ.N> shed 1 percent
to $47.43 while the S&P telecom sector index <.SPLRCL> dropped 2.2
percent, easily making it the session's worst-performing sector.
Biotech shares pulled the Nasdaq lower. Amgen Inc <AMGN.O> slid 5
percent to $113.32, a day after earnings missed forecasts. The
Nasdaq biotech index <.NBI> fell 1.5 percent and NYSEArca biotech
index <.BTK> lost 1.6 percent.
"You've got some big numbers coming out from companies that have
already been pretty volatile in the Nasdaq, and there is some
caution against the potential for shortfalls that could restart
Nasdaq on the way down," said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView
Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.
"This is traditionally not going to be a particularly strong time
for earnings reports, and it's easy to take less inspiring numbers
and say this market is overvalued or pass them by and say this is a
seasonally low point. So it really is more about investors' own view
of how high a multiple they are willing to pay."
There were bright spots within biotech. Gilead Sciences Inc <GILD.O>
rose 1.4 percent to $73.86 and Illumina Inc <ILMN.O> gained 3.9
percent to $153.69 after the companies posted results late Tuesday.
Boeing Co <BA.N> reported first-quarter revenue that beat
expectations and lifted its core earnings forecast to reflect a tax
settlement gain, sending its stock up 2.4 percent to $130.63 and
giving the biggest boost to the Dow.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 12.72 points or 0.08
percent, to end at 16,501.65. The S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 4.16 points or
0.22 percent, to 1,875.39. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped
34.491 points or 0.83 percent, to 4,126.967.
After the closing bell, Apple Inc jumped 7.3 percent to $563 after
the iPhone maker reported quarterly results, approved a
seven-for-one stock split and expanded its share-buyback
authorization by $30 billion.
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In another big move after the close, Facebook Inc <FB.O> gained 4.8
percent to $64.30. Its mobile advertising business continued to
accelerate in the first three months of the year, helping the social
networking company top Wall Street's revenue target.
Better-than-expected earnings have buoyed Wall Street lately, though
companies have largely been beating reduced forecasts. Profits are
seen rising 1.6 percent this quarter, down from the 6.5 percent
growth rate estimated at the start of the year, according to Thomson
Reuters data.
Of the 141 companies in the S&P 500 that had posted results through
Wednesday morning, 65.2 percent have topped expectations, above the
long-term average of 63 percent. On the revenue side, 53.6 percent
have exceeded forecasts, below the 61 percent long-term average.
Procter & Gamble Co's <PG.N> earnings topped forecasts but sales
were flat. The stock slipped 0.3 percent to $80.36.
New home sales tumbled more than expected to an eight-month low in
March. The PHLX housing sector index <.HGX> fell 1.1 percent, with
D.R. Horton Inc <DHI.N> off 2.2 percent at $21.35.
Volume was light, with about 5.67 billion shares traded on U.S.
exchanges, well below the 6.65 billion average so far this month,
according to BATS Global Markets.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,566 to
1,482, while on the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers by 1,775 to
819.
(Editing by Nick Zieminski and Jan Paschal)
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