Wall Street drops from highs as earnings take centre stage

By Noel Randewich

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell from record highs on Monday as oil weighed on energy shares and investors awaited an avalanche of quarterly reports.

Shares fell almost across the board, with energy stocks leading declines across 10 S&P 500 sectors and consumer discretionary a loan bright spot, helped by a 1.97-percent gain in Netflix.

The negative start to the week, which includes earnings from 190 S&P 500 companies as well as a Federal Reserve policy meeting, put the brakes on a 9 percent rally that started on June 27.

Oil fell to two-and-a-half month lows amid worries that a global glut of crude and refined products would be a drag on markets for some time.

 

The S&P energy index <.SPNY> fell 2 percent, its deepest percentage decline since late June.

"Earnings have provided an extension to the rally over the past week but we're a bit frothy," said David Schiegoleit, managing director of investments for the Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank. "We're approaching extreme in terms of valuation. What we see is the market catching its breath a little."

Earnings of S&P 500 companies are expected to fall 3.7 percent, compared with a 5-percent decline expected at the start of the earnings season, according to Thomson Reuters data.

At 2:39 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 0.58 percent to 18,463.82 points and the S&P 500 <.SPX> had lost 0.47 percent to 2,164.79. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 0.17 percent to 5,091.51.

Cautious about pulling the trigger due to global uncertainty sparked by Britain's vote to leave the European Union, Fed officials are not expected to raise interest rates at their meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, but they may hint at when a hike is likely.

After the close on Monday, Gilead Sciences and Texas Instruments post their results.

Yahoo's shares fell 2.2 percent after agreeing to sell its core internet business to Verizon for $4.8 billion. Verizon's shares fell 0.5 percent.

Apple shares fell 1.39 percent after CNBC reported that BGC cut the stock to "sell" ahead of the company's earnings report on Tuesday.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.75-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.31-to-1 ratio favoured decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 26 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 76 new highs and 17 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski)