US: Stocks fall again, shrugging off good results

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks tumbled for a second straight session on Tuesday despite a mostly strong batch of earnings, suggesting the market rally is running out of steam.

After major indices finished last week at all-time highs, stocks are under pressure amid questions over whether the expected benefits of a speeding post-Covid economy were already priced in.

"Earnings have been coming through fine, even better than fine," said Maris Ogg of Tower Bridge Advisors. But good results are "not so much an upside surprise," she added.

The Dow jones Industrial Average fell 0.8 per cent to 33,821.30.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.7 per cent to 4,134.94, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.9 per cent to 13,786.27.

Among individual companies, Johnson & Johnson jumped 2.3 per cent after reporting better-than-expected results.

The pharmaceutical company also received a boost when Europe's medicines regulator determined that blood clots should be listed as a "very rare" side effect of J&J's coronavirus vaccine, and that the benefits of the shot still outweighed the risks.

Boeing slumped 4.1 per cent after announcing it was changing the retirement age for David Calhoun, enabling the CEO to stay on potentially through 2028. Mr Calhoun offered no time-table on restoring Boeing's dividend.

United Airlines also had a bad session after describing an airline recovery as a medium-term target, saying it may not exceed pre-Covid profit margins until 2023. Shares dropped 8.5 per cent.

Manchester United fell 6.0 per cent following reports it would pull out of a breakaway football league after furious protest from politicians and football authorities.

Procter & Gamble advanced 0.8 per cent after the consumer products giant reported higher profits and announced plans to raise prices on some goods later this year.

AFP