* J&J sales lower than Wall Street's consensus forecast
* Analyst Whitney downgrades Goldman Sachs to neutral
* Indexes off: Dow 0.5 pct, S&P 500 0.7 pct Nasdaq 0.3 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Updates with analyst quote)
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday,
threatening to break a six-day winning streak, as Johnson &
Johnson's <JNJ.N> third-quarter sales figures disappointed
investors.
Johnson & Johnson, the world's largest healthcare company
by market value, posted a higher-than-expected profit and
raised its full-year earnings outlook, but its sales came in
lower than Wall Street's consensus. The shares slipped 2.9
percent to $60.72.
"The J&J news seems to be major factor causing some profit
taking," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris
Asset Management in Bedford Hills, New York.
Ghriskey said that "whisper expectations", or private
earnings forecasts talked about on Wall Street, may be too
high. "Does everybody already expect companies to beat at least
on the bottom line? And is the focus going to be just on the
top line?" he asked.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> dropped 56.68
points, or 0.57 percent, to 9,829.12. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> dropped 8.24 points, or 0.77 percent, to 1,067.95.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <> dropped 9.22 points, or 0.43
percent, to 2,129.92.
Crude oil <Clc1> pared gains to trade below $74 per barrel
mid-morning as the U.S. dollar recovered some of its earlier
losses, removing the earlier boost to energy and natural
resource stocks.
Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc <FCX.N> fell 1 percent
to $73.69 while ConocoPhilips <COP.N> fell 1.5 percent to
$50.61.
Prominent U.S. banking analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded
her rating on Goldman Sachs Group Inc <GS.N> to "neutral" from
"buy," and the shares fell 2.4 percent to $185.63.
Other calls in the bank sector included Deutsche Bank
starting Citigroup Inc <C.N> with a "buy" rating and Barclays
raising its third-quarter earnings outlook on JPMorgan Chase &
Co. <JPM.N>
Citigroup's shares added 0.4 percent to $4.79 but JPMorgan
fell 2.8 percent to $44.75.
Intel Corp <INTC.O>, the world's largest chip maker and a
bellwether for the technology sector as well as an indicator of
business demand, is set to report earnings after the bell. The
stock was unchanged at $20.40.
The S&P 500 managed a sixth consecutive day of gains on
Monday to end at its closing high for the year as energy shares
rose alongside the price of oil.
(Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
