Disappointing earnings drive down the markets

Disappointing earnings from several big U.S. companies put investors in a selling mood Tuesday, giving the stock market its first broad decline in four days.

IBM and United Technologies were among the companies whose latest quarterly report cards fell short of Wall Street's expectations or included dimmer outlooks. Telecommunications stocks were among the biggest decliners. Energy stocks rose slightly.

The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 181.12 points, or 1 percent, to close at 17,919.29. The Nasdaq composite slid 10.74 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,208.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 9.07 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,119.21.

Traders have been focusing on the health of Corporate America to get a read on how the global economy is doing, though it's early - only about 12 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings.

"Investors appear to be in a listen-only mode as we await greater clarity on second-quarter results," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "Our belief is that equities still grind higher, but we're in a sideways-trending mode here into August and perhaps even in the early part of September, as well."

Stocks headed lower early Tuesday as investors reacted to IBM's latest quarterly results, released late Monday: Earnings were better than expected, but revenue fell short of financial analysts' forecasts. The stock slumped $10.15, or 5.9 percent, to $163.07.

On Tuesday, United Technologies reported earnings that didn't meet forecasts and cut its outlook for 2015, citing weaker sales of Otis elevators in Europe and China's slowing economy. The stock lost $7.77, or 7 percent, to $102.71.

Verizon Communications' earnings topped Wall Street's expectations, but the number of newly added wireless postpaid customers was down from last year. Verizon fell $1.13, or 2.3 percent, to $46.97.

Harley-Davidson surged 5 percent after second-quarter earnings beat expectations. The stock added $2.73, to $57.67.

In energy-futures trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 21 cents to close at $50.36 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, climbed 39 cents to close at $57.04 a barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline fell 0.9 cent to close at $1.921 a gallon. Heating oil rose 2 cents, to $1.678 a gallon. Natural gas rose 5.9 cents, to $2.882 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In metals trading, gold fell $3.30 to $1,103.50 an ounce, silver edged up two cents to $14.77 an ounce, and copper edged down less than a penny to $2.48 a pound.

U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.33 percent, from 2.38 percent late Monday.