NEW YORK – After two weeks of strong earnings pumped up the markets, weak results from Pfizer and others deflated a broad earnings rally, at least for a day.

The parade of stronger-than-expected quarterly reports slowed Tuesday when several companies reported weak results. That sent broad indexes such as the Standard & Poor’s 500 lower. The Russell 2000, an index of small companies, lost nearly 1.7 percent in the late afternoon.

Pfizer Inc. fared worst in the Dow Jones industrial average; it slid 3 percent after the company reduced its revenue forecast for 2011.

Clorox Co. and Molson Coors Brewing Co. each fell about 4 percent after they reported lower net income compared with the same period last year. The consumer goods maker and beverage company both blamed higher raw materials costs for the decline.

Beazer Homes USA Inc. slipped 5 percent. The homebuilder reported a larger-than-expected loss because orders for new homes fell, reflecting continued weakness in the housing industry.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 36 points, or 0.3 percent, at 12,771 in late afternoon trading.

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The S&P 500 fell 9 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,353. The Nasdaq composite fell 31, or 1.1 percent, at 2,832.

The losses came after a string of stronger-than-expected earnings reports pushed the broad stock market up 2 percent this quarter. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 2.4 percent last week alone.

“You get a nice move like that and you’re bound to have a pullback,” said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Asset Management. Investors sold stocks based on their perceived riskiness, he said, with the stable companies in the Dow losing the least and the smaller, riskier companies in the Russell 2000 declining the most.

MetroPCS Communications Inc. rose 9 percent, the most of any company in the S&P 500, after it added a record number of subscribers in the first quarter. The company sells low-cost phone service, primarily in cities.

 


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