Stocks edge lower after disappointing earnings; Best Buy, Campbell plunge

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NEW YORK — Disappointing earnings news helped push the stock market lower on Tuesday.

Electronics retailer Best Buy plunged after saying extended store hours and price-cutting could squeeze its fourth-quarter profit. Campbell Soup fell sharply after reporting that its profit slumped as sales of soups and V8 drinks fell. The two stocks were the biggest decliners in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

Even with the slight decline the S&P 500 is still up 25 percent so far in 2013 and has risen for six weeks straight, the longest winning streak since February. The extended run-up has prompted a number of market watchers to call for caution.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 8.99 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,967.03, the first decline for the index in five days. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 3.66 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,787.87 and the Nasdaq composite fell 17.51 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,931.55.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 crossed round-number milestones in early trading Monday but failed to build on those advances. The Dow crossed 16,000 and the S&P 500 hit 1,800 for the first time before falling back to close below those levels both Monday and Tuesday.