There has been plenty of corporate news for investors to get their teeth into, but they seem reluctant to commit to the market.
That may have a lot to do with the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which is scheduled to commence this afternoon, with an announcement on interest rates set for tomorrow.
Although the Fed’s policy makers are widely expected to hold off on a rate rise until next year, there will still be plenty of rune reading and semantic studies going on when the Fed releases its statement tomorrow.
After a soft day yesterday, all three of the major benchmarks are in the red this morning, with the Dow Jones down 0.2% (33 points) at 17,593, the S&P 500 off 0.3% (six points) at 2,065 and the Nasdaq Composite 0.2% lower (12 points) at 5,023.
On the economic front, durable goods orders fell for the second month in succession in September, dipping a seasonally adjusted 1.2% after falling 3% in August.
Oil stocks are under pressure as the price of crude retreats further. Leading the sector lower is Consol Energy (NYSE:CNX), after third quarter results demonstrated the effects of the softness of the oil price.
The fuel producer posted an adjusted loss per share of 28 cents, versus market expectations of a two cent loss per share. Revenue tumbled from US$885mln last year to US$814mln. The company said it made a loss of 28 cents on every thousand cubic feet of gas it produced during the quarter.
Sector peers Chesapeake Energy, Marathon Oil and Devon Energy also suffered heavy falls, in excess of 4%.
The Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), which might expect to benefit substantially from the falling price of gas, found itself keeping company with the oil stocks in the blue-chips’ cellar, sliding 73 cents to US$14.95 after it missed third quarter profit estimates.
Net income increased to $1.9bn in the third quarter, from $1.1bn a year ago.
After taxes, earnings per share, excluding one-time items, were $0.45 per share, below the $0.47 average estimate of 18 analysts polled by Capital IQ.
Offsetting these losses were handbags maker Coach (NYSE:COH) and drugs firm Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), after well-received updates.
Coach climbed 4.9% to US$31.80 as it said revenue in the three months to the end of September were virtually unchanged from a year ago, suggesting the downward trajectory of the top line has come to a halt.
Pfizer lifted its guidance for 2015 after an impressive third quarter. Shares advanced 2.75% to US$35.10 after the company’s underlying earnings per share of 60 cents topped the consensus forecast of 51 cents.