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Reuters
New York
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged lower on Thursday, as weak earnings reports and caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision stalled a rally from the previous session, which was spurred by the outcome for midterm elections.
Among the biggest deliners on the S&P 500 were Perrigo, Wynn Resorts and DR Horton all falling on disappointing quarterly results.
Qualcomm dropped 7.1 percent after the chipmaker forecast sales revenue for the holiday quarter below analysts' estimates, as it took a hit from the loss of chip sales to Apple.
Technology stocks that rallied the most on Wednesday, dipped 0.4 percent.
The S&P banking index was up 0.9 percent, with Bank of America rising 1.8 percent and JPMorgan Chase gaining 1 percent ahead of the Fed decision.
Financials were among the few gainers, with the broader market dipping after a 2 percent surge on Wednesday as investors braced for a political gridlock in Washington.
"The market is going to go into a trading range for a while. Yesterday was relief that there wouldn't be any severe economic changes for the next couple of years," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W Baird in Sarasota, Florida.
"The Fed may give some indication of what they're going to do in December, that might be holding the market back."
The US central bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the statement that follows could lay the ground for a fourth rate hike in December as well as next year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 51.07 points, or 0.20 percent, at 26,231.37 points, the S&P 500 was down 2.56 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,811.33 points and the Nasdaq Composite was down 25.53 points, or 0.34 percent, at 7,545.23 points.
Gains in Walgreen Boots Alliance and Intel Corp lifted the Dow. Wynn Resorts fell 12.1 percent after the casino operator missed third-quarter profit estimate and warned of a slowdown in the key Macau market. That hit shares of peers Melco Resorts and MGM Resorts.
DR Horton fell 6.2 percent and dragged on other homebuilders after it warned of rising home prices and higher mortgage rates weighing on demand. The PHLX Housing index fell 1.8 percent.
Perrigo plunged 14.9 percent after the generic drugmaker cut full-year earnings forecast on lowered expectations from its prescription pharmaceuticals.
The top gainer on the S&P 500 was TripAdvisor, which jumped 15.6 percent after the hotel search website reported better-than-expected third-quarter profit.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.19-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.12-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 33 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 63 new highs and 58 new lows.
