Dow slips 150 points after a batch of disappointing earnings: Live updates

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Tuesday, pulling back from record-breaking highs as traders poured through the latest batch of corporate earnings.

The blue-chip Dow lost 160 points, or 0.4%, retreating below the 38,000 level that was crossed for the first time ever on Monday. The 30-stock benchmark was pressured by a 12% decline in 3M, which was under pressure on the back of disappointing guidance. Johnson & Johnson fell more than 1% after reporting earnings.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both traded near flat.

D.R. Horton dropped more than 9% after the homebuilder missed Wall Street’s consensus forecast for per-share earnings. General Electric slipped almost 1% on the back of weaker-than-expected guidance.

On the other hand, United Airlines rose more than 7% after reporting strong fourth-quarter results. However, the airline operator said it expects a first-quarter loss from the grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes, the model involved in the Alaska Airlines emergency earlier this month.

Shares of other airline operators rose in tandem. American Airlines and Alaska climbed more than 4%, while Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines added more than 3%.

Elsewhere, Verizon and Procter & Gamble helped mitigate losses for the Dow. The pair gained of more than 5% and 4%, respectively, as investors bought in following the companies’ financial reports.

Those moves come after recent advances clarified that the S&P 500 officially reached bull market territory, topping both its previous intraday and closing all-time highs from January 2022.

But investors are deliberating how long the gains can persist, especially as the rally this year has centered around tech stocks such as Nvidia, while broader participation has continued to disappoint. This month alone, Nvidia is up 20%. In contrast, the small-cap Russell 2000 is lower by more than 1%.

“Investors definitely are taking a pause — doing some profit taking — on the heels of what was a really a two-year record high,” said Greg Bassuk, CEO of AXS Investments, of Tuesday’s moves. “That’s counterbalancing the bullishness in the markets.”

Traders are also awaiting two key data economic data releases later in the week. The preliminary fourth-quarter gross domestic product figure is due Thursday, followed by the Commerce Department’s closely-watched personal consumption expenditures price index for December on Friday.