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* Pfizer rose after raising the forecast for the full year
* McDonald’s falls when global sales at the same store disappoint
* 3M falls as quarterly earnings fail estimates
* Downward indices: Dow 0.47%, S&P 0.14%, Nasdaq 0.36% (Updates in the early afternoon)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
July 28 (Reuters) – US stocks fell on Tuesday as investors waited for progress on Washington’s coronavirus relief plan, with the Dow tier one index weighted by 3M and McDonald’s stocks after the companies posted quarterly earnings that fell short of the estimates.
Industrial conglomerate 3M Co fell 4.3% as it reported a drop in demand across all of its business units in the second quarter.
McDonald’s Corp fell 2.5% after posting a larger-than-expected drop in global sales at the same store.
“This earnings season is a classic example of sandbag management of your second-quarter expectations and the analyst community is moving forward,” said Mike Zigmont, head of commerce and research at Harvest Volatility Management in New York.
“It is mainly about exceeding expectations and if companies do not exceed that is the story because it is very rare.”
Of the 130 S&P 500 companies that reported, about 80% of them beat the significantly lower quarterly earnings forecast, according to Refinitiv IBES data, better than the 71% average of companies that beat earnings estimates in the last four quarters.
A rebound in US stocks slowed recently as investors worried about signs of a stalled economic recovery amid a resurgence in coronavirus cases, as they awaited progress in government stimulus talks.
Senate Republicans on Monday announced a $ 1 trillion aid package negotiated with the White House, four days before millions of Americans lose unemployment benefits, but the proposal drew immediate opposition from both Democrats and some Republicans. .
The latest data showed that US consumer confidence declined in July amid an outbreak of coronavirus infections across the country.
The US Federal Reserve also said it would expand several of its lending facilities until the end of the year, in a sign that the economic impact of the pandemic has been longer than expected.
“The coronavirus has reappeared in America’s consciousness and that will lessen enthusiasm a little. A little disappointment makes sense because you can’t have exuberant confidence forever, “said Zigmont.
At 12:44 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 124.30 points, or 0.47%, to 26,460.47 and the S&P 500 fell 4.65 points, or 0.14%, to 3,234.76. The Nasdaq Composite fell 38.04 points, or 0.36%, to 10,498.22.
A major focus this week will be the results of Wall Street’s trillion-dollar market value companies Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc, as well as Facebook Inc.
Discretionary industrial and consumer stocks outweighed the benchmark S&P 500.
The United States central bank is expected to reiterate its accommodative stance when its two-day policy meeting concludes on Wednesday afternoon.
Pfizer Inc rose 4% after raising its year-long forecast on strong demand for anticaagulant and cancer drugs. Late Monday, the drug maker announced a critical global study to evaluate a candidate for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The decrease in emissions exceeded that of the overtakers by a ratio of 1.07 to 1 on the NYSE and by a ratio of 1.45 to 1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 23 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 47 new highs and 17 new lows. (Report by Devik Jain and Medha Singh in Bangalore; Shounak Dasgupta and Maju Samuel edition)
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