Overnight Markets: Wall Street edges lower on tech and banking profit outlook

Wall Street slipped on Wednesday, ending the Dow Jones’ five-day winning streak, as discouraging earnings outlook from technology and financial companies overshadowed speculation the Federal Reserve may pump hundreds of billions of new dollars into the sluggish economy.

The Dow fell 22 points, or 0.2%, to 10,739. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped five points, or 0.48%, to 1,134. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 15 points, or 0.63%, to 2,334.

Adobe Systems plunged 19% after the firm on Wednesday said fourth-quarter revenue will be $950 million to $1 billion, lower than $1.03 billion estimated by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. PMC-Sierra dropped 6% after the chipmaker cut its third-quarter revenue forecast. Microsoft took a hit of 2.2% after declaring a dividend increase that was smaller than expected.

Further deteriorating the investor sentiment, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said US home prices declined 3.3% in July from a year earlier.

Financial stocks also declined after Deutsche Bank reduced the third-quarter earnings estimates of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Morgan Stanley dropped 4.3%, while Goldman Sachs fell 2.2%.

In other company news, New York Times Co. fell 6.5% after it announced that its third-quarter profit will be three cents to five cents on an adjusted basis.

In current trading, Asian stocks were trading mixed on Thursday as commodity stocks gained in response to increased metal prices, but banks dropped after Deutsche Bank reduced its earnings forecast for Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index gained 0.1% to 440 as of 11:55 a.m. in Sydney. The S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.1%, and Taiwan’s Taiex index lost 0.4%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index was little changed.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Group rose at least 0.5% in Sydney. Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 0.7% in Sydney, and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group dropped 1.3% in Wellington.