News from AAP

US stocks close lower ahead of third quarter earnings

Print This Post A A A

US stocks have followed European and Asian markets lower, giving up some of last week’s solid gains ahead of the third quarter earnings reporting season.

At the close the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 26.50 points (0.19 per cent) at 13,583.65.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 5.05 (0.35 per cent) to 1,455.88, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 23.84 (0.76 per cent) to 3,112.35.

“Whether the market reorients its thinking from central bank support to the weakening fundamental picture remains to be seen,” said Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.

“The third quarter earnings reporting season, which begins this week with Alcoa’s report after the close on Tuesday, has the potential to shift the market’s perspective.”

Alcoa’s shares were up modestly, 0.4 per cent, ahead of the quarterly release that comes after trade Tuesday.

UnitedHealth Group gained 0.8 per cent to $US57.61 after announcing the $US4.9 billion ($A4.85 billion) purchase of 90 per cent of Brazil’s largest health care provider Amil.

Marathon Petroleum gained 0.2 per cent in strong trade after it said it would buy BP’s ill-fated Texas City refinery and a portion of its retail and logistics network in the southeast US for $US2.5 billion ($A2.47 billion).

General Motors lost 0.9 per cent after announcing slowing sales growth in its major market China.

Sales in the world’s biggest car market reached 244,266 vehicles in September, bringing the 2012 nine-month total to nearly 2.1 million vehicles in China, up 10 per cent from a year earlier.

But with China’s economy in a sharp deceleration, September sales were up only 1.7 per cent from September 2011.

Walmart shares gained 0.2 per cent and American Express added 0.4 per cent as the two announced a tie-up on prepaid debit cards for Walmart customers.

Facebook shares lost 2.4 per cent to $20.40 after a report that it was cutting in half its bank line of credit, originally set to help it meet tax costs as employee stock vested; the plunge in the company’s share price means the tax burden should be much smaller than anticipated.