NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was slightly lower on Wednesday (Oct 25) after a barrage of lacklustre earnings reports from companies, including AT&T, and Dow component Boeing weighed after revealing a surprise charge in the latest quarter.
AT&T fell 2.12 per cent and was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 index after the US No. 2 wireless carrier's quarterly results missed estimates.
Boeing fell about 1 per cent after it booked a charge related to its troubled KC-46 aerial refueling tanker.
The declines come after the Dow closed at another record high on Tuesday led by gains in industrial giants Caterpillar and 3M.
The earnings season has been largely positive, with more than 70 per cent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported so far beating profit expectations.
"The market is looking for additional fuel to continue the drive higher, whether it comes in the form of earnings or tax reform," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
Investors were also keeping an eye on the nomination of the next Federal Reserve chief.
The US dollar got a lift from report that Republican senators were favouring Stanford University economist John Taylor over current Fed Governor Jerome Powell.
Upbeat durable goods data, which supported the view of steady economic growth, also helped the greenback.
In early trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.29 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 23,440.47, the S&P 500 was down 3.48 points, or 0.14 per cent, at 2,565.65 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 6.04 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 6,592.39.
Six of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, led by declines in the telecom services sector.
Anthem was the biggest S&P gainer, rising 4.8 per cent after United States' second biggest health insurer reported better-than-expected profit.
Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 1.38 per cent after the drugstore reported a 5.3 per cent rise in revenue.
Northrop Grumman jumped about 3 per cent after the defence contractor raised full-year profit forecast and reported higher quarterly profit and revenue, boosted by strength in its aerospace business.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,674 to 878.
On the Nasdaq, 1,310 issues fell and 936 advanced.
