Goodyear, Gilead Sciences down as US stocks open lower

Tire giant Goodyear and biotech company Gilead Sciences tumbled Wednesday following disappointing earnings forecasts as US stocks dipped in early trading.

Analysts said earnings remained at the front of investor focus, with no major US economic data and little chance at speedy resolution of the Washington policy debates that are expected to play out in the coming months.

There are "misgivings about the pace of pro-growth reform efforts in the US, anxiousness over potential trade restrictions, and nervousness about the electoral season approaching in Europe," Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said.

"Those factors aren't going away today and they won't be going away tomorrow either," O'Hare added. "There is a market that is range-bound."

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 20,034.70, down 0.3 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent to 2,286.70, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.3 percent to 5,656.17.

Gilead Sciences plunged 9.5 percent on disappointment over the drug company's 2017 forecast. Gilead expects drug sales of between $22.5 billion and $24.5 billion, far below the $27.9 billion expected by analysts.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. lost 1.4 percent as it cited higher raw material costs as a drag on expected 2017 results, disappointing some analysts.

Dow member Disney gained 1.7 percent after chief executive Bob Iger signaled he was willing to extend his contract beyond 2018 as the entertainment giant tries to recruit a new head.

Iger also gave an optimistic outlook on the film studio business. Disney's first-quarter earnings fell 14 percent to $2.5 billion, in part due to tough comparisons with last year's "Star Wars" blockbuster.