Stocks End Mostly Lower; Dow Sets Record High

U.S. stocks ended mostly lower on Tuesday, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to a record close, as investors weighed a handful of upbeat earnings against a weak regional factory report. The Dow rose 22.19 points, or 0.14%, to 15,567.74, marking its 28th record close this year. The S&P 500 index fell 3.14 points, or 0.19%, to 1,692.39 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 21.11 points, or 0.59%, to 3,579.27.

The seasonally adjusted composite index of manufacturing activity—our broadest measure of manufacturing—fell eighteen points in July to a reading of −11. Among the components of that index, shipments dropped twenty-six points to −15 in July. The new orders index also fell to −15; the previous reading was 9; and the gauge for the number of employees remained at 0 for a second month in July.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported a decline in profits Tuesday afternoon for its third fiscal quarter, though the results came in ahead of Wall Street’s estimates. For the period ended June 29, Apple reported net income of $6.9 billion, or $7.47 per share, compared with net income of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per share, for the same period last year. Revenues grew slightly to $35.3 billion.

AT&T Inc posted quarterly revenue on Tuesday that was ahead of Wall Street expectations as it added wireless subscribers.The No. 2 U.S. mobile service provider posted earnings of $3.82 billion (2.48 billion pounds), or 71 cents per share, compared with $3.97 billion, or 66 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose to $32.08 billion from $31.58 billion.

VMware Inc. (NYSE:VMW) on Tuesday reported a second-quarter profit of $244 million, or 57 cents a share, compared with a profit of $191.7 million, or 44 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $1.24 billion from $1.12 billion.

Electronic Arts Inc. managed to beat Wall Street’s targets for its seasonally weak fiscal first quarter. For the period ended June 30, EA reported net income of $222 million, or 71 cents per share, compared with net income of $201 million, or 63 cents per share, for the same period last year. Revenue fell slightly to $949 billion.