Stocks fell lower on Wednesday as Wall Street struggled to extend its two-day rally from earlier in the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 100 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.67% or -24.82 points to 3,695.16
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.33% or -99.99 points to 30,423.81
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.85% or -91.89 points to 10,680.51
In the spotlight on Wednesday, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) reported it added 2.41 million net global subscribers in the third quarter, more than doubling the additions the company projected last quarter. The streaming giant also posted better-than-expected results for revenue and earnings.
"We're still not growing as fast as we'd like," said CFO Spencer Neumann during the company's earnings call. "We are building momentum, we are pleased with our progress, but we know we still have a lot more work to do."
Also on the earnings front, United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) reported higher-than-expected Q3 earnings results, with the company benefiting from strong travel demand. The airline added it expects adjusted earnings per share of as much as $2.25 for the fourth quarter, which tops Wall Street estimates.
Meanwhile, Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT) shares fell nearly 7% on Wednesday after the medical device maker posted weaker-than-expected growth in international medical device sales, citing headwinds from a strong U.S. dollar and supply-side issues in China.
Wall Street staged a rally earlier this week on stronger-than-expected earnings reports from big banks like Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). Of the 9.15% of S&P 500 companies that have reported Q3 earnings so far, 70% of them have posted better-than-anticipated results, according to data from FactSet.
For stocks, Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) shareholders announced they have approved a takeover by JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU), ending a six-month stand-off between JetBlue and Frontier Airlines (NASDAQ: ULCC) to create what will be the fifth-largest air carrier in the U.S.
In economic news, housing starts fell to its lowest level in more than two year in September, accord to Census Bureau data released Wednesday. New U.S. homebuilding dropped 8.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.439 million units last month. Building permits rose 1.4% during the same period.
Separately, the Federal Reserve reported in its Beige Book that the U.S. economy "expanded modestly" over the past six weeks as consumer spending waned and rental prices rose. The central bank added that inflation continued to be "elevated", but there were some signs of cooling.