NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks edged mostly lower Wednesday, breaking a six-day winning streak, as investors reacted to another round of quarterly earnings reports from U.S. companies.
Telecommunication companies were also hit following quarterly results from AT&T, while airline stocks rose, helped by Delta Air Lines.
A worse-than-expected economic report on the housing market also weighed on the broader market. Homebuilder stocks fell broadly.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 4.16 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,875.39. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 12.72 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,501.65 and the Nasdaq composite fell 34.49 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,126.97.
The S&P 500 had risen six days in a row before Wednesday. It is not unusual for the stock market to pause after such a rally.
"The market, even with those six days of gains, is still struggling to choose a direction," said Joseph Tanious, a global market strategist with J.P. Morgan Funds.