By Ben St. Clair 

U.S. stocks declined Thursday as renewed trade tensions and a round of lukewarm corporate earnings reports weighed on sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 124 points, or 0.5%, to 25075. The S&P 500 shed 0.4%, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5%.

The moves came a day after President Donald Trump reiterated his tariff threats against European autos. Mr. Trump said a failure to negotiate "something fair" with European and North American allies could lead to "tremendous retribution."

"Generally people are going to look at [trade tensions] through a negative lens," said Jeremy Bryan, a portfolio manager at Gradient Investments. "That's one of the things that can stifle global growth -- if we have protectionism."

The tariffs will be the focus of a Commerce Department hearing Thursday, and the issue is expected to be high on the agenda next week when European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker visits the White House.

The U.S. imported more than $350 billion in cars, trucks and auto components in 2017, according to Commerce Department data. With the Trump administration threatening tariffs of between 20% and 25%, the new measures, if enacted, would be the administration's largest to date. The European Union has compiled a list of U.S. imports, including pharmaceuticals and other chemical products, it would target for tariffs if next week's visit to Washington fails to dissuade the U.S. administration.

Shares of U.S. auto companies edged lower, with General Motors down 1.4% and Ford Motor off 0.7%.

Earnings were mixed, with shares of eBay off 10% after the company late Wednesday offered disappointing guidance. American Express fell 3.2%, despite reporting strong card-member spending and loan growth. Danaher, meanwhile, added 7.1% after the medical equipment company reported strong second-quarter earnings.

Thursday morning's earnings reports were largely overshadowed by the news that Comcast had withdrawn its offer for 21st Century Fox, ending a bidding war with Walt Disney. Shares of Comcast rose 3%, while Disney's gained 0.7%. Fox slipped 1.8%.

The U.S. dollar continued to rally, with the WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the currency against a basket of 16 others, up 0.5%. Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasurys were recently at 2.867%, down from 2.875% Wednesday. Yields fall as prices rise.

In commodities, U.S. crude rose 1% to $68.76 a barrel, and gold slipped 1% to $1,216.20 an ounce.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.4% and Japan's Nikkei fell 0.1%.

The Chinese yuan declined to lows not seen since last July, as the People's Bank of China on Thursday set the dollar's daily reference rate at 6.7066 yuan, weakening the yuan by 0.2%.

Orla McCaffrey contributed to this article.

Write to Ben St. Clair at ben.stclair@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 19, 2018 10:31 ET (14:31 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.