NEW YORK, April 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks declined on Tuesday, giving up earlier gains, as losses by 3M and Google-parent Alphabet dragged major indexes lower.
Shares of 3M slumped over 7 percent on Tuesday despite better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Alphabet's earnings also beat estimates, according to results posted Monday after the closing bell. The technology giant's stock, however, lost more than 4 percent on Tuesday.
The earnings season is off to a good start. More than 83 percent of S&P 500 companies that have reported through Tuesday have topped earnings estimates, according to FactSet.
Expectations for this earnings season are high. The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the first quarter are expected to rise by 20 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase by 7.5 percent.
Meanwhile, traders continued to pay a close attention to the rising Treasury yield. The 10-year Treasury note yield on Tuesday broke above 3 percent, a key psychological level, for the first time since 2014. Investors have been selling the Treasury notes this month - pushing yields higher - amid expectations of rising inflation.
