Technology stocks were the brightest spot in the market Wednesday. A solid earnings report from Texas Instruments pushed the chipmaker's stock up 7% and made the sector the biggest gainer.
Caterpillar dropped 4% after its profits were weighed down by a cooling energy sector. Health care stocks also fell.
The S&P 500 was little changed at 3,004.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 137 points, or 0.5%, to 27,211. The Nasdaq rose 14 points, or 0.2%, to 8,265.
Small-company stocks rose. More stocks rose than fell on the New York Stock Exchange.
Weak earnings reports from Caterpillar, Boeing and other companies are pulling major U.S. stock indexes lower.
Caterpillar dropped 6% in the first few minutes of trading Wednesday after its profits were weighed down by a cooling energy sector.
Boeing fell 1.4% after reporting a loss of almost $3 billion as it absorbed financial damage from the grounding of its 737 Max airplane.
The S&P 500 index fell 5 points, or 0.2% to 3,000.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 111 points, or 0.4%, to 27,232. The Nasdaq fell 14 points, or 0.2%, to 8,237.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.05%.