Investing.com – Wall Street traded mostly lower on Tuesday as investors took a breather, pocketing some profits after the record closing highs reached in the prior session, while markets digested a slew of second quarter earnings and the U.S. watched from the sidelines as the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union (EU), known as a Brexit, took its toll on economic forecasts.
At 15:38GMT, or 11:38AM ET, the Dow 30 slipped 3 points, or 0.02%, the S&P 500 gave up 4 points, or 0.20%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 11 points, or 0.22%.
Stateside, markets priced in a slew of earnings reports on Tuesday.
Among Dow Jones components, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was the clear winner as shares gained more than 1% after the medical and consumer products maker beat consensus.
Still Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) traded down 1% despite better-than-expected numbers while IBM 's (NYSE:IBM) own positive report left investors unimpressed.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) also produced “healthy” quarterly results, but narrowed its annual forecast to $7.80-$7.90 adjusted earnings-per-share, disappointing markets who had expected $7.89.
Investors were cautious ahead of Microsoft’s own report scheduled for after the close, with the computer giant (NASDAQ:MSFT) trading down 0.8%.
Outside the blue-chip index, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) tumbled close to 14% after reporting a slowdown in subscriber growth.
On the upside, Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) jumped 3% as the Pentagon’s number-one weapons maker lifted 2016 forecasts yet again.
News on the U.S. economic front was positive as both housing starts and building permits rose more than forecast in June.
However, while the IMF admitted that the Brexit would have little effect on the U.S. economy, the Fund painted a grim picture for the effect on Britain and the euro zone.
In an evident sign of economic worries from the U.K.’s decision to leave the EU, industry data on Tuesday showed that economic sentiment in Germany, the euro area’s number one economy, had already deteriorated to the lowest level since November 2012 in July, as the Brexit shock hit business confidence.
With Fed fund futures still dismissing the possibility of a rate hike by the U.S. central bank, it seemed that global economic concerns were responsible for the dollar’s move to four-month highs.
Meanwhile, oil was mostly lower in choppy North American trade on Tuesday as investors waited for data on U.S. crude inventories with concerns over the global supply glut keeping nerves on edge.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its weekly report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles fell by 2.3 million barrels.
U.S. crude futures fell 0.46% to $45.73 a barrel by 15:40GMT or 11:40AM ET, while Brent oil slipped 0.06% to $46.93.