Financial Markets                      10/13 15:33

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The first big batch of summertime profit reports from U.S. 
companies made waves on Wall Street after topping analysts' expectations, but 
many canceled each other out. That left U.S. stock indexes little changed near 
their records on Tuesday.
The S&P 500 edged down by less than 0.1% and pulled a bit further from its 
all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 180 points, 
or 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite dipped 0.2%.
Those modest moves masked some big swings happening underneath the market's 
surface.
Goldman Sachs, for example, jumped more than 4% at the start of trading after 
the bank delivered a profit for July through September that blew past analysts' 
expectations. But its stock quickly erased all of it and then flipped between 
gains and losses before finishing with a dip of 0.2%.
Goldman Sachs benefited in the summer from strong growth for its business that 
offers loans to clients for trading stocks, among other things, even as CEO 
David Solomon said it's dealing with a "complicated operating environment" 
created by lots of uncertainty.
Expectations are high for profits across all kinds of U.S. companies. Analysts 
are forecasting overall growth of nearly 30% for companies in the S&P 500 
during the summer from a year earlier, according to FactSet. If they're 
correct, it would be the third straight quarter of growth better than 25%.
And companies need to hit those high numbers to justify the record-setting runs 
for their stock prices despite the many worries on Wall Street about high 
inflation, increased pressure from the bond market and the war with Iran.
UnitedHealth Group's stock swung sharply even though it reported stronger 
profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The 
healthcare company also raised its forecast for profit over the full year of 
2026.
After rallying as much as 5.6% shortly after trading began, it erased all of it 
and finished with a dip of 0.2%.
More firmly in the losing column was Wells Fargo, whose stock dropped 3.1% 
after the bank reported weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts 
expected, even though its profit topped Wall Street's estimates. CEO Charlie 
Scharf cited weaker revenue from its venture capital investments, among other 
things.
But Scharf also gave a potentially encouraging signal about the broader economy 
and future profits for companies across industries. He said that "our data 
shows that our consumer and business customers are doing well." That's despite 
uncertainty about the economy and recent surveys showing Americans have become 
more discouraged about their finances.
At the country's biggest bank, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon highlighted 
"elevated asset prices" as one of the potential risks for the economy. He also 
mentioned high inflation, rising interest rates and "geopolitical conditions."
"These forces may be manageable, but we remain prepared for a wide range of 
outcomes," he said.
JPMorgan Chase's stock flipped between gains and losses through the day before 
finishing with a drop of 0.9%. It reported a weaker profit for the latest 
quarter than analysts expected, but it also gave a forecast for net interest 
income in the current quarter that topped Wall Street's estimate.
Outside of earnings reports, some of the sharpest action was for stocks in the 
computer chip industry.
Worries have been high for a while about whether chip stock prices have shot 
too high in the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology, and concerns 
climbed further following reports that China's memory chipmaker CXMT is making 
advances that could challenge industry heavyweights. That includes companies 
like Micron Technology of Boise, Idaho, and Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix of 
South Korea.
Micron fell 3.6% and was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500. South 
Korea's Kospi stock index tumbled 5.5% for its worst day in nearly two months.
Bumble, meanwhile, leaped 56.6% after the app company that helps people make 
relationships said it agreed to a $1.3 billion, all-cash buyout by Ithaca 
Holdings.
All told, the S&P 500 edged down by 1.79 points to 7,805.45. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average dropped 180.45 to 51,670.10, and the Nasdaq composite fell 
41.52 to 27,204.38.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after oil prices fell. The yield on 
the 10-year Treasury slipped to 5.21% from 5.24% late Friday. Trading in the 
U.S. bond market was closed Monday for a holiday.
Yields sank following a 0.9% dip for the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil 
to $105.69. Oil prices have been yo-yoing because of uncertainty about when the 
war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.
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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
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