The major averages finished the day lower as investors reacted to a large volume of earnings reports and awaited news tomorrow from the Fed. The central bank kicked off its two day FOMC meeting and will report tomorrow afternoon on whether it will take further action to support the economy as COVID-19 continues to stall growth.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the Case Shiller 20-City home price index rose 0.4% to 224.8 for May. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index dropped 5.7 points in July to a weaker than expected 92.6 reading. The Richmond Fed manufacturing index jumped 10 points to 10 in July.
Meanwhile, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview on "Good Morning America" that there are early indications that a COVID-19 outbreak could be on the way in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Fauci said that the so-called positivity rate, or the percentage of tests run that are positive, seems to be rising in those states, an early sign that the pandemic is worsening in those states.
TOP NEWS: Shares of McDonald's (MCD) fell 2.5% after the fast food giant reported worse than expected quarterly earnings and said its global same-store sales were down 23.9% compared to last year, driven mainly by international declines. On the plus side, U.S. same-store sales were down only 8.7% in the quarter.
Conversely, Pfizer (PFE) shares rose 3.9% following the drugmaker's better than expected Q2 results and guidance raise.
In other large cap earnings news, Sherwin-Williams (SHW) and Altria (MO) rose following their reports, while 3M (MMM) and Ecolab (ECL) were among the notable decliners.
In other news, Kodak (KODK) shares gained 203% in market value after the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation said it will sign a letter of interest to provide a $765M loan to the company to support the launch of Kodak Pharmaceuticals, a new arm of the company that will produce pharmaceutical components.
Additionally, Bloomberg reported that a New York federal judge granted Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) drivers unemployment benefits payments immediately, saying the state's Department of Labor took too long to pay the benefits.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Spectrum (SPPI), which rose 12.6% after the ZENITH20 Phase 2 clinical trial met its pre-specified primary endpoint. Also higher were Vocera (VCRA), Medpace (MEDP), and OneMain Holdings (OMF), which gained a respective 33.8%, 8.8%, and 11.7% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers were AudioCodes (AUDC), Armstrong World Industries (AWI), and Harley-Davidson (HOG), which fell 16.9%, 11.7%, and 0.75%, respectively, after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: The Dow fell 205.49, or 0.77%, to 26,379.28, the Nasdaq lost 134.18, or 1.27%, to 10,402.09, and the S&P 500 declined 20.97, or 0.65%, to 3,218.44.
McDonald's
-5.32 (-2.64%)
Pfizer
+1.415 (+3.76%)
Sherwin-Williams
+7.295 (+1.16%)
Altria Group
+0.38 (+0.90%)
3M
-7.78 (-4.76%)
Ecolab
-18.49 (-8.72%)
Eastman Kodak
+5.38 (+205.34%)
Uber
-0.185 (-0.60%)
Lyft
-0.39 (-1.30%)
Spectrum
+0.42 (+13.00%)
Bought by SYK
+7.9 (+33.72%)
Medpace
+9.86 (+8.79%)
OneMain
+2.975 (+11.68%)
AudioCodes
-7.52 (-16.81%)
Armstrong World
-9.355 (-11.50%)
Harley-Davidson
-0.21 (-0.72%)