NEW YORK — Weak earnings from Pfizer and other companies held back major market indexes on Tuesday, as the Standard & Poor's 500 flipped between slight gains and losses. Pfizer's stock dropped 3 percent after the drug maker's results fell short of what analysts had expected, a result of currency movements and falling sales. The world's second-largest drug maker also cut its profit forecast for the rest of the year. Pfizer lost 97 cents to $29.46, among the biggest drops in the Dow Jones industrial average. Shortly after noon, the Dow was down 16 points at 14,802, a decline of 0.1 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was flat at 1,593. The index closed at a record high the day before. Brad Sorensen, director of market research at the brokerage Charles Schwab, said that trading would likely be quiet Tuesday except for companies reporting earnings. Later this week, investors will hear from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank and get the US government's monthly job report. Investors are often reluctant to take big positions ahead of potentially market-moving events such as those. “People are probably taking a breath today,” he said. “We're waiting for some more important events to happen later in the week.” The Nasdaq composite index rose 11 points to 3,317, an increase of 0.3 percent. Pitney Bowes sank 16 percent after the maker of mailing equipment and software cut its dividend in half and posted a 58 percent drop in net income. Pitney Bowes sank $2.59 to $13.61. Avon Products' quarterly loss wasn't as deep as analysts had expected. The direct-seller of cosmetics has been cutting staff and scaling back operations in an effort to turn around its business. Avon's stock rose 71 cents to $22.96, a gain of 3 percent. This earnings season has been a mixed bag. More than half of the companies in the S&P 500 have turned in results, and seven of 10 have beaten analysts' estimates for earnings, according to S&P Capital IQ. Nearly as many, however, have come up short on revenue: Six of 10 have missed analysts' revenue targets. That suggests companies are getting more of their profits from laying off staff and other cost-cutting efforts instead of from higher sales. – Agencies
