US stocks trade lower as earnings season continues

New York, April 18 (IANS) US equities turned negative around midday on Wednesday after an upbeat opening as investors continued to digest a batch of quarterly results amid the earnings season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 48.89 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 26,403.77. The S&P 500 was down 7.60 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 2,899.46, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 11.13 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 7,989.10.

Of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors, health care declined 2.6 per cent in midday trading, the worst-performing group.

Shares of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) sank 3 per cent around midday. The company delivered better-than-expected quarterly earnings after Tuesday's close; however, its revenue fell short of estimates.

Netflix also struggled after the US media-services provider posted weak guidance for the next quarter.

Shares of Morgan Stanley climbed 1.6 per cent after the bank reported better-than-estimated earnings. Morgan Stanley generated first-quarter profit of $1.39 per share, according to a Wednesday report by the bank, beating analysts' estimates of $1.17 per share surveyed by Refinitiv. Its revenue also beat market consensus.

PepsiCo stock gained 3.3 per cent at midday. The US beverage giant on Wednesday delivered first-quarter earnings per share of 1 dollar, well above Wall Street estimates.

Shares of Qualcomm continued to jump more than 10 per cent after a 23.21-per cent surge in the previous session, fuelled by the news that the company and Apple have settled a lawsuit regarding royalty disputes. Apple shares were up 1.25 per cent after a muted previous session.

Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported quarterly earnings, about 84.6 per cent have topped analyst expectations, according to CNBC, while citing FactSet data.