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Sprint, Priceline push US stocks lower

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Shares of Sprint and Priceline have tumbled following disappointing earnings to help push the broad US equity market down.

Buyers sent the blue chips of the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 17.60 points (0.10 per cent) to 17,383.84, but the broad-based S&P 500 dropped 5.71 (0.28 per cent) to 2,012.10.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 15.27 (0.33 per cent) to 4,623.64.

Sprint sank 16.5 per cent as it announced it was slashing 2000 jobs after reporting a $US765 million loss in its fiscal second quarter.

Priceline tumbled 8.4 per cent as it forecast fourth-quarter earnings of $US9.40-$US10.10 per share, well below the $US10.91 projected by analysts.

Rival online travel companies TripAdivsor (-1.7 per cent) and Expedia (-2.4 per cent) also fell.

Tuesday’s trade followed lacklustre US economic data. New orders for US manufactured goods dropped $US2.8 billion, or 0.6 per cent, to $US499.4 billion in September, the Commerce Department reported.

The US trade deficit widened in September to $US43.0 billion as exports slowed and imports remained flat from the previous month.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba rose 4.2 per cent after it reported a 15 per cent gain in third-quarter profits to $US1.1 billion in its first earnings release since going public.

Petroleum stocks fell as US oil prices sank further below $US80 a barrel.

Dow member Chevron fell 1.2 per cent, oil services company Weatherford International lost 7.6 per cent and drilling company Transocean dropped 5.3 per cent.

Delta Air Lines jumped 4.2 per cent after reporting a three per cent rise in consolidated passenger unit revenue in October, a closely watched industry benchmark. American Airlines and United Continental both gained 1.7 per cent.

Apparel-maker Michael Kors slumped 8.4 per cent on a disappointing outlook.

The company forecast earnings of $US1.31-$US1.34 per share, compared with analyst projections for $US1.34.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.34 per cent from 2.35 per cent Monday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.05 per cent from 3.07 per cent.

Bond prices and yields move inversely.