Financial Markets                      10/22 15:26

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks and the price of gold fell on Wednesday, as 
momentum on Wall Street reverses.

   The S&P 500 sank 0.5%, though it's still within 1% of its all-time high set 
earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 334 points, or 
0.7%, from its record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.9%.

   Netflix helped drag the market lower after delivering a weaker profit for 
the latest quarter than analysts expected. The pressure is on the video 
streamer and on companies broadly to deliver solid growth in profits. That 
would counter criticism that their stock prices shot too high following a 35% 
romp for the S&P 500 from a low in April.

   Netflix's stock came into the day with a jump of 39.3% for the year so far, 
more than double the S&P 500's gain, before it dropped 10.1% on Wednesday.

   AT&T fell 1.9% after delivering a profit that only matched analysts' 
expectations, while Texas Instruments sank 5.6% after its profit fell just 
short of forecasts.

   On the winning side of Wall Street was Intuitive Surgical, which sells 
robotic-assisted surgical systems. It jumped 13.9% after reporting better 
profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Boston Scientific climbed 
4% after likewise topping analysts' profit expectations.

   Capital One Financial rose 1.5%, and Western Alliance Bancorp climbed 3.2% 
following their own profit updates that beat analysts' expectations. The report 
from Western Alliance was particularly welcome after it helped shake confidence 
in the industry last week. It's one of several banks that had warned of 
potentially bad loans on its books, possibly because of fraud.

   Beyond Meat, meanwhile, swung sharply through a manic Wednesday. After 
surging as much as 112% in the morning, its stock erased all of that to finish 
with a drop of 1.1%. It's still up 454.5% for the week so far in the midst of 
its meme-stock run.

   The maker of plant-based meat alternatives was the biggest holding in the 
Roundhill Meme Stock exchange-traded fund, as of Tuesday. The ETF holds stocks 
where investors have piled in because they're hoping to catch a wave of 
momentum, almost regardless of how or even what the businesses themselves are 
doing.

   All told, the S&P 500 fell 35.95 points to 6,699.40. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average dropped 334.33 to 46,590.41, and the Nasdaq composite sank 
213.27 to 22,740.40.

   Momentum continued to head the other way for gold, which fell 1.1% to 
$4,065.40 per ounce. That's after Tuesday's 5.3% slide knocked it off its 
record high.

   Many of the same factors that drew buyers to gold this year are still there. 
The expectation along Wall Street is still for the Federal Reserve to cut 
interest rates through next year. Concerns are growing about inflation 
remaining high. And the worrisome mountains of debt that the U.S. and other 
governments worldwide have amassed are only rising further.

   But no investment's price goes up forever, and criticism had been growing 
that gold's price had gone too far, too fast after it shot up even more than 
the U.S. stock market. Gold's price is still up 56% for the year so far.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

   London's FTSE 100 added 0.9% after a report on U.K. inflation raised hopes 
for another cut to interest rates next month. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.6% 
for another one of the world's bigger gains. But indexes fell 0.9% in Hong Kong 
and 0.6% in Paris.

   In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 3.95% from 
3.98% late Tuesday.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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