Off the wire
• Research underway to replace crude oil with vegetable oil in candle making  • Russia-China fund makes first partial exit from investment with "significant yield"  • Two China-made planes formally handed over to Nepal's national flag carrier  • EU top diplomat to visit Washington in attempt to mend frayed relations  • Vice Premier urges accuracy of economic data  • Burundian refugee exodus strains Rwanda's largest camp capacity  • Injury for Mascherano while Suarez in trouble for post-game comments  • Namibian power firm not to cut supply to indebted villages  • Philippines should cease from being America's proxy nation: Philippine academics  • S. African stocks close weaker on Wednesday  
You are here: 　 Home

U.S. stocks decline on earnings reports

Xinhua, February 9, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower on Wednesday, as investors mainly digested a slew of corporate earnings reports.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 40.94 points, or 0.20 percent, to 20,049.35. The S&P 500 lost 1.13 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,291.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index ticked down 0.90 points, or 0.02 percent, to 5,673.31.

After Tuesday's closing bell, the Walt Disney Company reported quarterly earnings of 2.479 billion U.S. dollars for its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016, a decrease of 14 percent from the prior-year quarter.

Diluted earnings per share for the quarter decreased 10 percent to 1.55 dollars from 1.73 dollars a year ago.

Shares of Time Warner rose slightly on Wednesday after the media and entertainment giant reported financial results for its fourth quarter last year.

The company's quarterly revenues grew 11 percent to 7.9 billion dollars, but its earnings per share fell by 62 percent to 40 cents compared to 1.06 dollars for the prior year quarter.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016 are expected to rise 8.2 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 4.3 percent.

There are no major economic data reports scheduled for Wednesday.

U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index eking out a new closing record, as investors digested a batch of economic data and corporate earnings reports. Endit