Investing.com – The Dow added to losses from the prior session on Wednesday, as investors fled risky assets amid rising geopolitical tensions after North Korea ignored President Trump’s warning that further threats to the United stated “will be met with fire and fury”.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower at 22,048.70. The S&P 500 closed 0.04% lower while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6352.33, down 0.28%.
Safe-haven demand rose after North Korea said it was "carefully examining" a plan to strike Guam, where a U.S. military base is located, shrugging off President Donald Trump’s earlier warning that further threats to the United States will be met with "fire and fury".
The uptick geopolitical tension sparked a surge in defense stock, with Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) all hitting record highs.
A 4% slump in shares of Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) , however, weighed on the broader index, after the company posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings but its sales missed expectations.
Calendar second-quarter earnings, however, have been mostly strong. More than 70% of S&P 500 companies that had reported posted better-than-expected earnings while 69 percent have beaten of sales, according to data from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The last big wave of corporate earnings is expected later this week as Macy’s kicks off department store earnings on Thursday,
During the first quarter, Macy's (NYSE:M), Kohl's and other big department store chains posted disappointing earnings which saw Macy’s stock price tank more than 14%.
‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) up 1.2%, The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) up 1.2% and NKE up 0.7%
Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) down 3.9%, Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) down 1.6% and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) down 0.8%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.