By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Monday tilted lower,
with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit as component McDonald's
Corp. reported second-quarter earnings short of expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 13 points, or 0.1%,
to 15,530.74, with fast-food chain McDonald's (MCD) pacing the
declines, its shares off 2.4% after the release of its results. The
company said its "results for the remainder of the year are
expected to remain challenged."
The S&P 500 index (SPX) held steady at 1,691.90. The Nasdaq
Composite (RIXF) rose nearly 2 points, or 0.1%, to 3,589.54.
Advancers remained just ahead of decliners on the New York Stock
Exchange, where 76 million shares traded as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern
time. Composite volume neared 268 million.
The S&P 500 on Friday capped a fourth week of gains to close
at an all-time high.
"With the first major week of earnings behind us, a few things
are quite clear. First, earnings are not coming in as badly as
feared," Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG LLC,
emailed of results from roughly 100 S&P 500 companies.
Dominated by financials, last week's results were "almost all
better than expected," and as a result, "overall expected earnings
growth for the S&P saw its first move higher in some time,"
Greenhaus added.
On Monday, Halliburton Co.'s (HAL) reported a drop in quarterly
profit, but shares of the oilfield-services company climbed 0.4% in
early New York trade after it said it had made more headway outside
the U.S. market and announced plans to increase its
stock-repurchase program by about $4 billion.
Hasbro Inc. (HAS) shares fell 3% after the toy maker reported
second-quarter results below expectations, hit by a sharp decline
in the sale of toys for boys. Last week, competitor Mattel Inc.
(MAT) reported a drop in second-quarter net income, which was
dented by weakness in Barbie sales. Results still coming Monday
include Netflix Inc. (NFLX) , with the video-subscription service
reporting after the close.
On Tuesday, earnings from Apple Inc. (AAPL) are expected to
throw some light on consumer-spending habits as its sales are
driven by discretionary purchases. A lackluster earnings report
from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) last week sent the shares tumbling 11%
on Friday, but they climbed back 0.5% in premarket trade on
Monday.
Stock-index futures on Monday offered little reaction to the
Chicago Federal Reserve's national activity index, which rose to
negative 0.13 in June from negative 0.29 in May.
Data for existing-home sales are due at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Economists polled by MarketWatch expect sales to have risen 1.9% in
June to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.28 million. (Read more:
Bernanke will find home sales strong in June:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dr-bernanke-will-find-home-sales-strong-in-june-2013-07-21.)
Gold futures rallied above the $1,300 mark, as the dollar
declined against most major currencies. Oil prices were also
higher.
In Asia, Japanese stocks closed higher after the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party's coalition easily won a majority of the 121 seats
contested in the upper-house elections over the weekend.
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