* Netflix tumbles as U.S. subscribers drop
* Union Pacific rises after qtrly profit beat
* Morgan Stanley beats profit estimates
* Indexes: Dow 0.22%, S&P 0.07%, Nasdaq 0.31%
(Changes comment, adds details, updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Uday Sampath Kumar
July 18 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes edged lower
on Thursday as investors digested a slew of mixed earnings,
while Netflix reported a surprise fall in U.S. subscribers in a
downbeat start to results from high-growth companies.
Shares of the streaming pioneer NFLX.O sank 11.4% to their
lowest since late-January at $321.10, as the company also missed
targets for new subscribers overseas at a time when it has
staked its future on global expansion. Losses in Netflix also dragged the communication services
.SPLRCL sector, one of the best-performing S&P sectors so far
this year, 1.28% lower.
"The stock market seems to be running out of energy," said
John Augustine, chief investment officer of Huntington Private
Bank in Columbus, Ohio.
"Earnings have met expectations but companies are being
cautious about future quarters, which is something that's not
able to keep the S&P 500 above the 3,000 level."
As second-quarter earnings rolled in this week, the three
main Wall Street indexes retreated slightly from record highs
and are set for their steepest weekly fall in seven weeks.
Investors are looking for concrete developments in trade
talks between United States and China, while they await the
Federal Reserve's policy meeting at the end of July where the
central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said U.S. and Chinese
officials will hold a telephone call later on Thursday that
could pave the way for further in-person trade talks.
At 11:13 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 58.66 points, or 0.22%, at 27,161.19, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 2.14 points, or 0.07%, at 2,982.28. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 25.62 points, or 0.31%, at 8,159.59.
Among positive earnings reports, tobacco company Philip
Morris PM.N climbed 7.3% after raising its full-year profit
outlook, while railroad operator Union Pacific Corp UNP.N
jumped 4.8% after reporting a profit beat. International Business Machines Corp IBM.N rose 3.9% as
its quarterly profit beat on strong growth in its high-margin
cloud business. Gains in IBM, along with those in Apple Inc AAPL.O , kept
the technology sector .SPLRCT afloat.
Morgan Stanley MS.N rose 0.4% after posting a
better-than-expected quarterly profit and wrapped up earnings
from big U.S. banks. The bank subsector .SPXBK was up 0.8%
after three days of losses. UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N fell 2.2% following comments
that the insurer would continue with its point-of-sale rebates,
a week after the Trump administration pulled back an ambitious
proposal to ban drug rebates. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.20-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.05-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 18 new 52-week highs and four new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 39 new highs and 63 new lows.