(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* ECB opens door for future rate cuts
* Technology falls most among major S&P sectors
* Tesla slips after quarterly results
* Ford falls after quarterly profit miss
* Indexes down: Dow 0.19%, S&P 0.18%, Nasdaq 0.51%
(Changes comment, updates prices)
By Amy Caren Daniel
July 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slipped on Thursday after a
handful of disappointing earnings pointed to a slowing global
economy and as European Central Bank signaled monetary policy
easing in the future, underwhelming investors who had expected
more.
ECB chief Mario Draghi said the risk of a recession in euro
zone was "pretty low" and that policymakers did not discuss rate
cuts at the meeting. This comes against the backdrop of Europe's
export-focused manufacturing sector bearing the brunt of a
global trade war.
"Europe's got some significant problems with its economic
landscape, and the commentary from the ECB's Mario Draghi is not
very encouraging," said Peter Kenny of Kenny's Commentary LLC
and Strategic Board Solutions LLC in New York.
"We are talking about an economy that hasn't fully recovered
from a financial crisis. It's a big concern if the European
markets continue to deteriorate, that could have a spillover and
could affect the U.S. economy."
The technology sector .SPLRCT fell 0.4%, and led the
declines among the S&P sectors trading lower as chipmakers fell
following Xilinx Inc's XLNX.O dour forecast.
The chipmaker declined 2.7% after providing current-quarter
revenue forecast below market expectations, hit by the impact of
U.S. restrictions on selling to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
HWT.UL . The Philadelphia chip index .SOX dropped 0.97%, a
day after hitting a record high.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O tumbled 13.1% after the electric carmaker
softened its language once again on meeting its profit timeline.
"I don't think it's all too surprising that we're getting a
mixed bag of earnings and some pockets of weakness," said Scott
Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg,
Florida. "The key for investors is if these pockets of weakness
are a sign of an economic downturn or just a slow patch."
In a bright spot, 3M Co MMM.N rose 1% after the
manufacturing conglomerate reiterated its full-year earnings
forecast despite slowing growth in high-profile markets such as
China.
Two weeks into the second-quarter earnings season, about 75%
of the 185 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have
topped profit estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
Hopes that the Federal Reserve would adopt a looser monetary
policy at its rate-setting meeting next week to counter the
impact of a protracted U.S.-China trade war have helped Wall
Street's main indexes scale record levels this month.
At 11:07 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 51.63 points, or 0.19%, at 27,218.34, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 5.48 points, or 0.18%, at 3,014.08. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 42.51 points, or 0.51%, at 8,278.99.
Ford Motor Co F.N fell 7% after the automaker reported a
lower-than-expected profit and gave a disappointing full-year
earnings forecast.
Facebook Inc FB.O reversed premarket gains to trade 2%
lower. The social media giant said new rules and product changes
aimed at protecting user privacy would slow its revenue growth
into next year.
Align Technology ALGN.O plunged 26% and was the biggest
decliner on the S&P 500, as the orthodontic device maker's
current-quarter forecast came below estimates.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.69-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.63-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 24 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 65 new highs and 41 new lows.