US STOCKS-Wall Street weighed by Boeing, J&J, bleak China data

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* J&J recalls baby powder because of asbestos find
* Boeing misled FAA on 737 MAX safety -Reuters
* China's GDP growth hits 30-year low
* Earnings beats: Amex, Coca-Cola, Kansas City Southern
* Indexes down: Dow 0.62%, S&P 500 0.25%, Nasdaq 0.73%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Wall Street fell on Friday as
negative headlines about Johnson & Johnson and Boeing and bleak
economic data from China soured investor risk appetite,
offsetting generally positive corporate earnings.
While the three major U.S. stock averages were in negative
territory, they were all on track to end the week higher.
Boeing Co BA.N and Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N shares led
the blue-chip Dow's decline.
Boeing dropped 4.8% after Reuters reported that text
messages between two employees suggested the planemaker misled
the Federal Aviation Administration about the safety of the
grounded 737 MAX aircraft. Johnson & Johnson announced it would recall baby powder in
the United States after regulators found trace amounts of
asbestos in a sample, sending its shares falling 5.6%.
Growth of China's gross domestic product slowed to its
weakest pace in nearly 30 years as the bruising trade war with
the United States took its toll, stoking fears of slowdown
contagion. The International Monetary Fund has lowered its forecast for
global growth this year to 3%, which would mark the slowest
expansion since the financial crisis. "Earnings have been coming in better than expected, but it
doesn't mesh with economic data that have been coming out
recently, and the global growth forecasts," said Robert Pavlik,
chief investment strategist, senior portfolio manager at
SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York. "That's keeping some
investors on the sideline."
Third-quarter earnings season has hit full stride, with 73
companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 83.6% have
come in above average estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
Still, analysts currently see S&P 500 earnings dropping by
3.1% compared with last year, which would mark the first
contraction since the earnings recession that ended mid-2016.
Schlumberger NV SLB.N gained 1.2% after the oilfield
services company posted its largest quarterly loss ever as a
result of a $12 billion charge as Chief Executive Olivier Le
Peuch moved to shift focus toward software and services.
American Express Co AXP.N reported better-than-expected
third-quarter profit as consumers boosted their spending. Still,
the credit card issuers shares dipped 1.0%. Coca-Cola Co's KO.N revenue topped Street estimates as
consumers took to zero-sugar sodas and smaller soft drink cans.
The beverage maker's upbeat forecast gave its shares a 2.1%
boost. Kansas City Southern KSU.N jumped 5.9% after beating
profit expectations on increased petroleum shipments to Mexico.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 166.44 points,
or 0.62%, to 26,859.44, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 7.53 points, or
0.25%, to 2,990.42 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
59.67 points, or 0.73%, to 8,097.18.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, six were in the red,
with communications services .SPLRCL and tech .SPLRCT
suffering the biggest percentage declines.
Real estate .SPLRCR and financial .SPNY sectors were the
day's biggest percentage winners.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.01-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.45-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 46 new highs and 47 new lows.