US close: Stocks lower following mixed corporate earnings
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Tuesday 29 Jul 2025
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street stocks closed lower on Tuesday as traders turned their attention to a flurry of corporate earnings.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.46% at 44,632.99, while the S&P 500 lost 0.30% to 6,370.86 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.38% softer at 21,098.29.
The Dow closed 204.57 points lower on Tuesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session despite Donald Trump's announcement that the US had struck a trade deal with the European Union.
Corporate earnings took centre stage on Tuesday, with UnitedHealth warning that FY25 earnings would be worse than expected as its insurance unit continued to battle with higher medical costs, while UPS reported a drop in both revenue and profits in Q2, and Merck & Co narrowed its FY outlook as it announced plans to slash $3.0bn in costs by the end of 2027.
Spotify said Q3 profits would fall short of Wall Street expectations as higher taxes related to employee salaries offset heightened demand for its streaming plans, while Royal Caribbean Q2 earnings came in ahead of expectations despite posting revenues that disappointed, Boeing revealed that Q2 losses had narrowed to $611.0m as revenues rose on increased deliveries.
Procter & Gamble quarterly earnings came in $0.06 ahead of estimates as the group hiked US prices amid ongoing tariff woes, while PayPal delivered a quarterly earnings beat and raised FY guidance despite increased expenses in Q2.
After the close, Visa reported a surprise Q3 earnings beat, while strong travel demand led Booking Holdings to also turn in a quarterly earnings beat, and Starbucks reported increased Q3 revenues despite the coffee chain saying global sales had declined.
On the macro front, US wholesale inventories ticked up 0.2% month-on-month to $907.7bn in June, according to the Census Bureau, rebounding from May's 0.3% decrease and exceeding market expectations of a 0.1% decline.
On another note, the US trade deficit in goods narrowed by $10.4bn to $86.0bn in June, according to preliminary estimates from the Census Bureau, firmly below expectations of a softer decline to $98.4bn.
Elsewhere, a leading indicator of house prices in the United States showed that price inflation picked up in May. The widely followed S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index increased to 342.97 points in May, up from 341.55 points in April.
Still on data, job openings fell by 275,000 to 7.43m in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, below market expectations of 7.55m. Hires and total separations were little changed at 5.2m and 5.1m, respectively. Within separations, quits were little changed at 3.1m, while layoffs and discharges were unchanged at 1.6m.
Finally, US consumer confidence improved more than expected in July, according to the Conference Board's consumer confidence index, which rose to 97.2 from an upwardly revised 95.2 in June, beating expectations for a reading of 95.4. The figure for June was revised up by 2.2 points.
The Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, with the central bank widely expected to keep its benchmark overnight policy rate steady in a range of 4.25% to 4.5%.
Also in focus was news that a potential extension of a tariff pause between the Washington and Beijing would not be agreed to until Donald Trump signs off on the plan, with Treasury secretary Scott Bessent saying that Trump "has final say on all the trade deals" and the pending tariff truce. Bessent's comments come after trade officials for both countries wrapped up discussions in Stockholm - the third round of talks between the two since May.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $259.74 1.93%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.39 1.89%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $302.64 1.15%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $731.99 1.15%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $168.03 1.14%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $42.72 0.83%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $303.56 0.75%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $98.32 0.74%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $157.03 0.48%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $67.96 0.06%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $261.07 -7.46%
Boeing Co. (BA) $226.08 -4.37%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $25.22 -2.06%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $82.63 -1.70%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.41 -1.31%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $211.27 -1.30%
Visa Inc. (V) $351.29 -1.18%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $78.33 -1.15%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $267.39 -1.06%
American Express Co. (AXP) $308.52 -0.71%
S&P 500 - Risers
Corning Inc. (GLW) $62.08 11.86%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $77.38 10.28%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $366.26 9.74%
CBRE Group Inc (CBRE) $157.95 7.84%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $635.81 7.29%
Globe Life Inc. (GL) $143.23 6.79%
Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $162.93 5.08%
Welltower Inc (WELL) $166.03 4.85%
Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) $152.42 3.62%
Waste Management Inc. (WM) $235.43 3.36%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $84.76 -13.43%
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) $90.90 -10.57%
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $277.47 -9.32%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $11.69 -8.89%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $71.45 -8.66%
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) $13.03 -7.98%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $261.07 -7.46%
Johnson Controls International plc (JCI) $103.40 -7.42%
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (SWK) $68.64 -7.20%
Gallagher Arthur J (AJG) $288.02 -6.72%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $77.38 10.28%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $366.26 9.74%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $635.81 7.29%
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $4.16 7.22%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $70.61 2.36%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $61.39 1.96%
Fiserv Inc. (FI) $142.22 1.83%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $195.75 1.65%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $468.41 1.64%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $98.90 1.61%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $71.45 -8.66%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $280.68 -5.90%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $32.22 -3.01%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $86.80 -2.91%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $147.79 -2.76%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $700.00 -2.46%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $182.81 -2.32%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $9.84 -2.19%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $32.83 -2.09%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $10.13 -1.75%
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