A steep slide in traditional safe-play stocks such as phone companies and utilities weighed Thursday on Wall Street, snapping a three-day winning streak for the market.
The broad decline came as investors pored over company earnings for clues about the health of Corporate America and the trajectory of the U.S. economy. Oil prices also fell, extending losses for the battered energy sector.
“Today might be a little bit of profit-taking after such a big run here,†said Jeff Kravetz, regional investment strategist at U.S. Bank’s Private Client Reserve. “We did have a few companies that reported weaker-than-expected earnings.â€
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 113.75 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,982.52. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 10.92 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,091.48. The Nasdaq composite index lost 2.24 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,945.89.
Many more companies are due to post their quarterly results in coming weeks. So far, though, traders have been quick to make moves on stocks, depending on whether the companies lived up to the market’s expectations.