US stocks finish lower on mixed earnings

Wall Street stocks Wednesday, May 28, 2014, finished lower following mixed earnings reports as investors looked ahead to major US economic data releases Thursday. AP

NEW YORK—Wall Street stocks Wednesday finished lower following mixed earnings reports as investors looked ahead to major US economic data releases Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 42.32 points (0.25 percent) to 16,633.18.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 2.13 (0.11 percent) to 1,909.78, snapping a two-day streak of record closes.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 11.99 (0.28 percent) to 4,225.08.

Apparel retailer Michael Kors Holdings reported a jump in fiscal fourth-quarter profits of nearly 60 percent compared with last year, while budget shoe-store chain DSW reported first-quarter earnings of 42 cents per share, six cents below expectations.

Michael Kors rose 1.3 percent, while DSW sank 27.4 percent.

With Wednesday’s calendar empty as far as major economic releases, investors were looking ahead to a busier day Thursday, which features the second estimate of gross domestic product in the first quarter.

Other reports Thursday include pending home sales and weekly jobless claims.

“Today there is a lack of real catalysts,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. “We are looking ahead to tomorrow.”

Canadian firm Valeant Pharmaceuticals International increased the cash part of its unsolicited bid for Allergan, the US maker of Botox, by $10 a share to $58.30 a share. Allergan said it would “carefully review and consider” the revised proposal.

Credit Suisse called Valeant’s latest off “better” but said it “may not be good enough” to seal the deal. Allergan fell 5.4 percent, while Valeant dropped 2.3 percent.

Twitter vaulted 10.7 percent higher following a Nomura upgrade of the stock.

Homebuilder Toll Brothers advanced 2.1 percent as earnings of 35 cents per share bested expectations by nine cents. Toll chief executive Douglas Yearley said the housing market is in a “leveling” period before it accelerates again.

Amazon continued to spar with French book publisher Hachette over pricing, discounting and other terms for selling works. Amazon said it is “not optimistic” about quickly resolving the dispute, while Hachette said it would continue to press for a deal that adequately recognizes authors and publishers. Amazon dipped 0.2 percent.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.44 percent from 2.52 percent Tuesday, while the 30-year declined to 3.29 percent from 3.37 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

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