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* BofA, PNC, BNY Mellon rise on strong results
* Drug distributors seek to settle opioid lawsuits-WSJ
* United Airlines gains on raising 2019 profit forecast
* Futures off: Dow 0.16%, S&P 500 0.20%, Nasdaq 0.28%
(Adds comments; updates prices)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Arjun Panchadar
Oct 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street inched lower on Wednesday as
a congressional bill related to the Hong Kong protests stoked
fears of more friction with China, even as another batch of
positive earnings reports underscored a solid start to third
quarter results.
Bank of America BAC.N , the second-largest U.S. bank by
assets, rose 2.3% in premarket trading after beating Wall Street
estimates for third-quarter profit as it earned more in advisory
fees and grew its loan book. PNC Financial Services Group Inc PNC.N and Bank of New
York Mellon Corp BK.N also gained about 1.5% after topping
quarterly profit expectations. The reports followed robust results on Tuesday from JPMorgan
Chase & Co JPM.N and Citigroup Inc C.N , showing consumer
confidence remained strong despite recession fears that have led
businesses to pull back on spending and borrowing. Analysts have forecast a 3% drop in third-quarter earnings
for S&P 500 companies, projecting their worst quarterly
performance in nearly three years, according to Refinitiv data.
"We play this game every quarter where expectations are
talked down and then there is roughly two-thirds of a surprise
to the upside," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond
James in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The prolonged trade war between the United States and China,
however, has taken a toll on both global growth and financial
markets this year.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed
legislation related to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. In
response, China warned that bilateral relations would be damaged
if the measures became law. Conflicting reports on the state of Brexit talks also added
to the mix. At 9:01 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 42 points,
or 0.16%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 6 points, or 0.2%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 22.5 points, or 0.28%.
United Airlines UAL.O was up 2% after topping analyst
estimates for quarterly profit, and increased its 2019 profit
target. Abbott Laboratories ABT.N fell 3.3% after the medical
device maker trimmed the upper end of its full-year earnings
forecast and missed quarterly revenue estimates. Its results were in sharp contrast to those from Johnson &
Johnson JNJ.N and UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N , which
reported upbeat results on Tuesday and raised their full-year
profit forecasts.
Tech heavyweights Netflix Inc NFLX.O and International
Business Machines IBM.N are due to report later on Wednesday.
McKesson MCK.N , AmerisourceBergen ABC.N and Cardinal
Health CAH.N jumped between 3% and 6% after a report that the
drug distributors were in talks with state and local governments
to settle thousands of opioid lawsuits for $18 billion.
Data on Wednesday showed a fall in U.S. retail sales for the
first time in seven months in September.