U.S. stocks decline on profit taking

U.S. stocks ended lower amid lackluster quarterly results Tuesday, as investors were looking for excuses to lock in gains after the Nasdaq Composite Index's three-session record run.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 181.12 points, or 1 percent, to 17,919.29. The S&P 500 lost 9.07 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,119.21. The Nasdaq was down 10.74 points, or 0.21 percent, to 5,208.12.

In the absence of major U.S. economic data, Wall Street mainly focused on the second-quarter earnings season which gets into full swing, with Apple scheduled for release after the closing bell.

The blue-chip Dow was hit by a batch of generally negative earnings reports from its components such as IBM, Verizon and United Technologies Corporation.

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) shares slumped 5.86 percent to 163.07 dollars apiece Tuesday as its revenues missed market estimates.

IBM announced the second-quarter 2015 diluted earnings from continuing operations of 3.58 U.S. dollars per share, down 15 percent year on year.

United Technologies Corporation also suffered big losses after it reported weaker-than-expected revenues and cut full-year forecast.

The industrial conglomerate posted the second quarter earnings per share of 1.73 dollars and net income attributable to common shareowners of 1.5 billion dollars, down 6 percent and 8 percent versus the prior year, respectively. Its shares plummeted 7.03 percent to 102.71 dollars apiece Tuesday.

Shares of Verizon dipped 2.35 percent to 46.97 dollars apiece after the company delivered quarterly earnings above estimates and revenues shy of forecast.

The biggest U.S. wireless service provider reported 1.04 dollars in earnings per share for the second-quarter 2015, compared with 1.01 dollars per share in the second-quarter 2014.

After the closing bell, Apple announced slightly better-than- expected financial results for the third quarter of its fiscal year 2015. The tech giant posted quarterly revenue of 49.6 billion dollars and quarterly net profit of 10.7 billion dollars, or 1.85 dollars per diluted share. Its shares, however, tumbled in the after-hours trading.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 0.24 percent to end at 12.22 Tuesday.

In other markets, oil prices climbed Tuesday as a weaker greenback provided support for the dollar-priced crude.

The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery moved up 21 cents to settle at 50.36 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery increased 39 cents to close at 57.04 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Future Exchange.

The U.S. dollar dropped against most major currencies Tuesday as investors took profits after the greenback soared to a three- month high in the previous session.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.0943 dollars from 1.0824 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 123.94 Japanese yen, lower than 124.30 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange continued to fall Tuesday, with the most active gold contract for August delivery down 3.3 dollars, or 0.30 percent, to settle at 1,103.50 dollars per ounce. Enditem