Financial Markets                      01/27 09:23

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks are zigzagging on Wall Street Tuesday following a 
rush of mixed profit reports from UnitedHealth, General Motors and other big 
companies, and the crosscurrents are keeping overall indexes in check.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and pulled closer to its all-time high set a couple 
weeks ago, though it was split between stocks rising and falling. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average was down 447 points, or 0.9%, as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time, 
and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% higher.

   UnitedHealth Group tumbled 19.5% even though it reported a profit for the 
latest quarter that was a bit better than analysts expected. More attention was 
on the company's forecast for revenue in the upcoming year, which fell short of 
Wall Street's expectations and could be weaker than it was in 2025.

   It and other health care companies also felt heavy pressure from a projected 
rate increase for Medicare Advantage by the U.S. government that was well below 
investors' hopes. Humana fell 20.5%, Elevance Health dropped 12.7% and CVS 
Health sank 10.5%.

   Helping to keep the market in check was Corning, which climbed 13.1% after 
announcing a deal with Meta Platforms that's worth up to $6 billion. Corning 
will supply optical fiber and cable to help build out data centers for Meta, 
enough that Corning is expanding its optical-fiber manufacturing facility in 
Hickory, North Carolina.

   Also supporting the U.S. stock market were gains for General Motors, which 
rose 6.8%, and hospital-operator HCA Healthcare, which rallied 9.3%. Both 
delivered profits for the end of 2025 that topped Wall Street's expectations. 
They also both approved programs to send billions of dollars to their investors 
by buying back their own stock.

   The pressure is on companies to deliver strong growth in profits following 
the record-setting runs for their stock prices. Stock prices tend to follow 
corporate profits over the long term, and earnings need to rise to quiet 
criticism that stock prices have grown too expensive.

   Several of Wall Street's most influential stocks will deliver their latest 
earnings reports later this week. That includes Meta Platforms, Microsoft and 
Tesla on Wednesday and Apple on Thursday.

   Another way stock prices can look less expensive is if interest rates fall. 
The Federal Reserve will announce its next move on interest rates Wednesday, 
but the widespread expectation is that it will hold its main interest rate 
steady for now.

   Inflation remains stubbornly above the Fed's 2% target, and lower interest 
rates could worsen increases in prices for U.S. consumers at the same time they 
give the economy a boost.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields eased a bit ahead of the Fed's decision. 
The yield on the 10-year Treasury ticked down to 4.21% from 4.22% late Monday.

   It edged lower after a report from the Conference Board said confidence 
among U.S. consumers weakened last month, when economists expected a slight 
improvement.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

   India's Sensex index added 0.4% after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the 
country had reached agreement on a free trade deal with the European Union.

   The accord, which touches 2 billion people, was concluded after nearly two 
decades of negotiations. It's one of the biggest bilateral engagements on 
commerce. The timing comes as Washington targets both India and the EU with 
steep import tariffs.

   South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.7%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rallied 1.4% for 
two of the world's bigger moves.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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