US stocks dip after mixed earnings

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 9.50 points (0.07 percent) to 12,797.86 at 1456 GMT.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 20.01 points (0.70 percent) to 2,844.07, while the S&P 500 index, a broad measure of the markets, shed 5.63 points (0.41 percent) to 1,355.59.

‘Traders are contemplating what lies ahead for the economy as global central bank monetary policies are diverging and US fiscal issues continue to loom over Capitol Hill,’ Charles Schwab analysts said in a client note.

They pointed to ‘mixed results’ from Dow member Pfizer.

Before the markets opened, drugmaker Pfizer reported first-quarter earnings jumped 10 percent, slightly above analyst estimates, but sales missed market expectations.

Shares in the world's largest drug maker fell 2.5 percent to $20.48.

Energy heavyweights were sold as a firming dollar put pressure on the prices of oil and other dollar-priced commodities.

Among the blue-chip Dow's steepest decliners was ExxonMobil, down 0.9 percent at $86.19, and Chevron, off 1.3 percent at $106.80.

Fresh government data showed continued buoyancy in the manufacturing sector, which has been driving US economic growth since the world's largest economy emerged from severe recession in July 2009.

Factory orders rose for the fifth straight month in March, the Commerce Department reported, and were up 3.0 percent from February, sharply higher than expected.

Among stocks in focus, Chesapeake Energy slid 4.0 percent to $31.90 after reporting quarterly revenue well below expectations.

Department store chain Sears plummeted 8.7 percent to $76.84. The company said same-store sales fell 3.6 percent in the first quarter and predicted a net loss.

Credit card giant Mastercard posted better-than-expected earnings, sending its shares up 2.9 percent to $283.35.

Equity markets slipped Monday as euphoria about the US slaying of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden faded, bringing the indexes down from multi-year highs set in April, their best month of the year.

The Dow dipped 0.02 percent, the Nasdaq fell 0.33 percent and the S&P 500 index shed 0.18 percent.

‘We're sticking with the equity market's overbought nature -- up 8.3 percent since March 16 -- as a germane explanation for why it is sputtering at the moment,’ said Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.

The bond market rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 3.27 percent, while that on the 30-year bond slipped to 4.37 percent from 4.39 percent late Monday.

Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.