By Wallace Witkowski and Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch

Whirlpool tanks after earnings miss Wall Street's estimates

U.S. stocks finished lower on Tuesday, giving back some of the previous day's advance as worries about a lackluster spate of earnings and a slip in a reading of consumer confidence weighed on market sentiment.

A drop in the price of oil below $50 a barrel, lingering uncertainty about the U.S. presidential election and growing expectations of a rate increase by the Federal Reserve, also contributed to the downbeat mood.

The confidence of Americans (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-confidence-droops-ahead-of-presidential-election-2016-10-25)in the U.S. economy fell in October to a three-month low just ahead of the Election Day showdown on Nov. 8 between Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and GOP nominee Donald Trump, with more consumers saying jobs are harder to find.

See:Corporate insiders have lost appetite for their own stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/corporate-insiders-have-little-appetite-for-their-own-stocks-this-month-2016-10-25)

The S&P 500 declined by 8.17 points, or 0.4%, to 2,143.16, after being down nearly 10 points earlier. Nine of the 11 main sectors ended in the red. The consumer-discretionary closed off 1.2%, while materials lost 1%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 53.76 points, or 0.3%, at 18,169.27, as shares of Home Depot Inc. (HD) weighed on blue-chips with a 3.2% decline. Earlier, the average had been down as many as 71 points.

Shares of Dow component 3M Co.(MMM) fell 2.9% after reporting earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, but the St. Paul, Minn.-based company posted sales that were flat relative to the prior year and reduced the top end of its yearly earnings forecast (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3m-cuts-earnings-outlook-amid-flat-sales-2016-10-25-84852553).

The share decline in Home Depot and 3M Co. wiped a combined 64 points from Dow industrials.

The Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 26.45 points, or 0.5%, to wrap at 5,283.40.

Tuesday's retreat in equities was to be expected as Monday's gains were primarily the result of merger enthusiasm (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/merger-monday-sets-us-stocks-on-track-for-gains-2016-10-24), said Karyn Cavanaugh, senior market strategist at Voya Financial.

"Deals tend to boost investor confidence especially after a dry spell," Cavanaugh said. "So, we were just setting ourselves up for a bit of a letdown."

Market participants have been wrestling with third-quarter earnings that have outperformed lowered expectations, but a number of companies have cut their annual outlooks, which has raised questions about future earnings.

Cavanaugh said the market is still focused on earnings and with about 30% of the S&P 500 having reported, chances are good that third-quarter earnings could end more than a year of quarterly earnings declines.

Investors are eager to find out the results from two of the tech giants this week, with Apple reporting after the closing bell on Tuesday.

Analysts expect to see Apple Inc.(AAPL) report earnings at the high-end of its fourth-quarter forecast (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-sales-likely-to-fall-again-despite-samsung-woes-2016-10-24), aided by the iPhone 7 launch and new customers switching from Android after Samsung Electronics' exploding Note 7 troubles. However, analysts are also projecting the third-straight quarterly decline in iPhone unit sales.

Economic data:Consumer confidence dropped to 98.6 this month from 103.5 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-confidence-droops-ahead-of-presidential-election-2016-10-25) in September, the privately run Conference Board said Tuesday. The decline was well below Wall Street expectations.

Separately, U.S. home prices rose in August, and were up 5.1% year-over-year as tight inventories continued to drive prices higher, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City index.

Corporates: Shares in Whirlpool(WHR) dropped 11% after the appliance maker reported third-quarter profit and sales that missed expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whirlpool-slumps-43-premarket-after-profit-miss-2016-10-25), and issued a downbeat outlook.

Merck & Co. shares (MRK) rose 2% after the drugmaker's third-quarter earnings and sales came in above expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/merck-shares-climb-3-after-third-quarter-earnings-beat-2016-10-25).

Chemicals maker DuPont& Co. (DD) shares fell 0.7% despite the company raising its yearly profit forecast and better-than-expected quarterly earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dupont-lifts-yearly-profit-view-as-sales-increase-2016-10-25). The company is working on its merger with Dow Chemical Co. (DOW).

Watch:Do lawsuits drive innovation in chemical industry?

Procter & Gamble Co.(PG) gained 3.4% after the consumer goods company reported earnings ahead of forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/procter-gamble-shares-rise-after-earnings-beat-2016-10-25).

Lockheed Martin Corp.(LMT) shares jumped 7.4% after the aerospace company posted higher-than-expected revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lockheed-martin-lifts-outlook-as-revenue-beats-2016-10-25)and hiked its dividend.

Baker Hughes Inc.(BHI) shares rallied 4.3% after the oil-field services company reported a narrower-than-expected loss (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/baker-hughes-shares-soar-loss-smaller-than-feared-2016-10-25).

General Motors Co. (GM) shares ended down 4.2% even as auto giant's quarterly profit doubled (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/general-motors-earnings-more-than-double-2016-10-25-74853840). GM also posted higher revenue on strong U.S. truck sales. But it signaled continued weakness in Europe because of the fallout from the U.K.'s pending exit from the European Union, or Brexit.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) rallied 3.6% despite reporting profit and revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/freeport-mcmoran-misses-earnings-and-revenue-expectations-2016-10-25) that missed analysts' expectations on Tuesday.

Under Armour Inc.'s class A shares(UA) shares plunged 13.2% after the company issued a profit warning (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/under-armours-stock-rocked-after-downbeat-outlook-2016-10-25). ItThe decline came even as the athletic gear maker reported a 28% rise in third-quarter profit and an expansion of its market share, but those results were overshadowed by its warning.

Nielsen Holdings PLC(NLSN) shares dropped nearly 17% after the media-ratings company reported a slip in profit because of higher restructuring charges (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nielsen-profit-falls-on-restructuring-costs-2016-10-25).

Other markets: Oil futures settled down 1.1% at $49.96 a barrel (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-drift-south-as-upcoming-opec-meeting-starts-to-look-like-a-bust-2016-10-25) while gold futures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-steadies-as-dollars-advance-pauses-at-8-month-high-2016-10-25)settled up 0.8% at $1,273.60 an ounce. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index tilted lower after an earlier gain (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-holds-strength-in-wake-of-upbeat-session-for-us-stocks-2016-10-25).

European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-gain-as-german-business-mood-rises-to-25-year-high-2016-10-25) pared earlier gains and were mostly lower and Asian shares (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-mixed-after-report-of-korean-economic-slowdown-2016-10-24) were mixed following data that pointed to a slowdown for South Korea's economy.

--Carla Mozee in London contributed to this article.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 25, 2016 16:38 ET (20:38 GMT)

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