Mixed news from earnings reports kept the New York equities markets down slightly on Wednesday morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was less than a point lower to 11,103.16, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.3 percent to 2,067.64 and the S&P 500 also down less than a point, to 1,268.30.
In a report released after the close of trade on Tuesday, Amazon said that its quarterly earnings were down by 58 percent due to discounts on shipping and the end of its contract with Toysrus.com. Shares in Amazon dropped 19.9 percent to $26.92.
General Motors and Boeing both reported losses in the quarter. A net loss of $3.2 billion in the second quarter didn’t seem to shake the confidence of investors in General Motors. This was helped by operating earnings that were higher than had been expected at $1.2 billion, taking shares 4.9 percent higher to $32.15. Boeing, however, fell 3.9 percent to $80.46 even though its losses, related to the settlement of an investigation into its defense business, were expected.
Shares in companies that depend on the discretionary spending of consumers were down. Starbucks was down 4.2 percent to $33.90, while hotel Las Vegas Sands was also 4.2 percent lower to $66.42.
Glassmaker Corning dropped 10.7 percent to $19.34 even though second quarter profits tripled. It said that sales in the third-quarter would not live up to estimates. Shares in Corning have lost a third of their value since the beginning of May.