US close: Markets finish lower as investors digest slew of earnings

Wall Street finished in the red on Tuesday, as investors continued to focus on US-Sino trade news and thumbed through a slew of earnings from some of the country's top firms.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 0.15% at 26,788.10, the S&P 500 lost 0.36% to 2,995.99, and the Nasdaq 100 was 0.83% lower at 7,874.62 at the closing bell.

At the open, the Dow was 21.56 points weaker after closing higher in the previous session, which was thanks to positive headlines around the US-China trade talks and increasing optimism that the UK would be able to avoid crashing out of the European Union.

China's vice-premier Liu He said that Beijing and Washington had made "substantial progress" in trade talks over the weekend and less than 24 hours later, Donald Trump sounded an optimistic note regarding the chances of the pair striking a trade agreement by the middle of November.

During a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Monday, Trump also said that China had started making the purchases of US agricultural products that he had pushed for as part of a deal.

“The ongoing détente between the US and China has helped equities to power higher over the past two weeks, fitting the usual seasonal pattern, but actual progress is still lacking, leaving stocks vulnerable to some weakness,” warned IG analyst Chris Beauchamp.

“If they can navigate the next few days then the seasonal outlook becomes even stronger, and perhaps some post-earnings disappointment or a sulk in the wake of the FOMC meeting this month might also provide a fresh buying opportunity for investors.”

Elsewhere, market participants remained focused on Brexit as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's deal stumbled at its latest parliamentary hurdle.

Late in the day, the House of Commons refused to approve the government’s three-day timetable to debate and pass the withdrawal bill, with a number of MPs being vocally critical of Johnson’s attempts to ram the 110-page document through parliamentary scrutiny in an unusually short timeframe.

On the data front, US home sales dropped more than forecast in September as the market continued to deal with a lack of properties for sale - and most notably, cheaper ones.

The National Association of Realtors revealed that existing home sales had fallen 2.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.38m units last month, reversing two consecutive months of gains.

Economists had forecast a decline of 0.7% to 5.45m units.

Elsewhere, the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index topped market expectations by a wide margin.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, economic activity in the manufacturing sector of the Fifth District expanded at a solid pace throughout October - with the headline Composite Index rebounding to 8 from -9 in September and beating expectations for a reading of -14.

In corporate news, United Technologies finished up 2.29% and Procter & Gamble added 2.6% by the close after their latest quarterly results.

Fast food behemoth McDonald's weighed on the Dow throughout the session, finishing down 5.04% on the back of a quarterly earnings miss.

Low cost airline JetBlue was up 7.31%, while delivery firm UPS lost 2.04% and defence company Lockheed Martin slipped 0.1%, after all three topped market expectations with their own results.

Dow Jones - Risers

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $122.18 2.60%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $249.48 2.28%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $141.41 2.21%
Boeing Co. (BA) $337.00 1.79%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $132.40 1.64%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $55.32 1.34%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $133.69 1.10%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $117.80 1.02%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $124.87 1.00%
3M Co. (MMM) $167.54 0.96%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $130.15 -8.29%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $199.27 -5.04%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $81.30 -3.81%
Visa Inc. (V) $170.86 -3.16%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $136.37 -1.49%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $53.85 -0.70%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $95.59 -0.64%
American Express Co. (AXP) $118.61 -0.37%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $52.01 -0.23%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $239.96 -0.23%

S&P 500 - Risers

Biogen Inc (BIIB) $281.87 26.11%
Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) $40.04 7.98%
Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $19.42 6.88%
L Brands Inc (LB) $17.73 6.81%
Centene Corp. (CNC) $48.75 6.51%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $21.38 6.42%
Zions Bancorporation (ZION) $48.08 5.28%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $76.37 4.62%
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $16.31 4.22%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $191.06 4.10%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Hasbro Inc (HAS) $100.02 -16.76%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $130.15 -8.29%
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) $129.38 -7.05%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $10.56 -6.55%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $62.94 -5.71%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $199.27 -5.04%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $535.75 -4.79%
Mastercard Incorporated (MA) $261.26 -4.75%
Msci Inc. (MSCI) $216.38 -4.32%
Equifax Inc. (EFX) $139.33 -4.25%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Biogen Inc (BIIB) $281.87 26.11%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $76.37 4.62%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $191.06 4.10%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $28.50 2.48%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $72.29 2.18%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $117.34 1.70%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $213.60 1.69%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $37.37 1.56%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $118.44 1.50%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $35.12 1.47%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Hasbro Inc (HAS) $100.02 -16.76%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $23.93 -6.56%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $62.94 -5.71%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $22.94 -5.67%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $535.75 -4.79%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $266.69 -4.09%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $97.36 -4.02%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $182.34 -3.91%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $100.79 -3.49%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $253.33 -3.38%