(Recasts with U.S. market close, Apple earnings)
* Gold ticks up after plunging to five-year lows
* Wall Street slides with earnings in focus
* Dollar index slips from three-month high
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) - Weak earnings dragged stocks
lower on Tuesday and Apple's results weighed U.S. futures
further, while a slip in the dollar helped oil and gold cap a
string of losing sessions.
Stocks on Wall Street fell, with results from bellwethers
IBM and United Technologies weighing the most on the S&P 500,
while Apple slumped 7 percent late after posting earnings. U.S.
equity futures extended losses, pointing to a weaker open on
Wednesday. ID:nL1N1012AN
"For the first time in a while fundamentals seem to be
driving the action today in an otherwise very quiet macro
backdrop and probably will continue to do so for the next couple
of weeks as we work through the heart of earnings season," said
Ryan Larson, head of U.S. equity trading at RBC Global Asset
Management in Chicago.
Spot gold prices gave up most of the day's gains and were up
marginally after hitting a five-year low on Monday. Investors
have dumped gold as the dollar rises and Greece looks to seal a
bailout deal. ID:nL3N1012YJ ID:nL5N1011Z4
U.S. crude oil futures rose in choppy trading as the August
contract expired, while Brent advanced but remained toward the
bottom of its $55-$60 a barrel range of the past weeks, near its
lowest since early April. ID:nL1N1011B1
At Wall Street's closing bell, the Dow Jones industrial
average .DJI was down 181.12 points, or 1 percent, at
17,919.29, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 9.07 points, or 0.43 percent,
to 2,119.21 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 10.74
points, or 0.21 percent, to 5,208.12.
Healthcare led Europe stocks lower after Novartis reported
quarterly income below analysts' expectations. The FTSEurofirst
300 index of top European shares .FTEU3 closed down 1.1
percent after rising 9.3 percent in the previous nine sessions.
MSCI's gauge of major global stock markets .MIWD00000PUS
slipped 0.2 percent.
EURO UP BUT DOLLAR SEEN STRONG
The euro EUR= bounced back against the dollar after
hitting a three-month low on Monday. It ended the New York
session up 1.1 percent at $1.0936 and the dollar index .DXY ,
which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies,
fell 0.7 percent.
"People were caught leaning too short against euro. It's
just some position-squaring," said Richard Scalone, co-head of
foreign exchange at TJM Brokerage in Chicago.
Dollar strength is seen returning in the short term on
expectations of interest rate differentials, as the U.S. Federal
Reserve prepares to raise rates by year-end.
"The tension is fading on the euro down there," said David
Rodriguez, quantitative strategist at FXCM in New York. "The
dollar is still in control."
Spot gold XAU= added 0.4 percent on the day to near $1,101
per ounce after earlier gaining as much as 1.2 percent.
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Gold price return vs selected assets:
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Oil prices edged up as the U.S. dollar slipped, but were set
for large monthly drops in the face of a global supply glut.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 43 cents at $57.08 a
barrel. U.S. crude futures CLc1 rose 21 cents to $50.36.
Crude inventories rose by 2.3 million barrels in the week to
July 17, compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of
2.3 million barrels, according to data from industry group
American Petroleum Institute. API/S
U.S. Treasuries prices rose as the decline in stocks fueled
demand for the safe-haven.
"You're starting to see companies that just aren't hitting
their earnings estimates, and you get this jolt down in equities
and risk off and transfer of funds into the bond market," said
Justin Hoogendoorn, fixed income strategist at BMO Capital
Markets in Chicago.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR were last up
12/32 in price to yield 2.3307 percent, from 2.374 late Monday.
U.S. 30-year bonds US30YT=RR were last up 24/32 to yield
3.0674 percent, from a yield of 3.106 percent late Monday.