While you were sleeping: UPDATED Lower earnings hit US stocks

Wall Street moved lower, as did equities in Europe, amid disappointing earnings forecasts from companies including UPS and Under Armour

Weaker than expected reports on US consumer confidence and Chicago-area manufacturing added to the reversal of the post-election boom.

The US dollar also fell after US President Donald Trump's top trade adviser Peter Navarro said Germany uses a "grossly undervalued" euro to gain a competitive advantage over trading partners.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected Mr Varro's accusation, made in an interview with the Financial Times.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fel 107.04 points, or 0.5%, to 19,864.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index added just one point to 5614.79, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index eased two points, or 0.1%, to 2278.87.

"We may only be 11 days into the first 100 days of the new Trump administration but one thing is becoming more apparent and that is that markets are going to be continually tested in the near term by the words and actions of President Trump," Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid wrote in a note, Bloomberg reported.

Trump meets Big Pharma
Goldman Sachs and Intel shares, down 2.2% and 1.8% respectively, led the slide in the Dow. Bucking the trend were Merck and Pfizer shares following a meeting of some of the nation's drug makers with President Trump.

President Trump says his intention to ease regulations and lower taxes will outweigh any negative impact from the lower drug prices he is demanding on corporate profits, according to Bloomberg.

Lilly and Merck said by email after the meeting that they were encouraged by President Trump's focus on innovation, Reuters reported.

"Tax and deregulation are things that could really help us expand operations," Lilly chief executive Dave Ricks said, according to Reuters

UPS shares dropped 6.8% after the parcel delivery company offed a disappointing full-year profit forecast. Rival FedEx shares fell 2.1%.

Athletic gear-maker Under Armour sank 23% after its full-year sales outlook fell far short of expectations and it announced an unexpected drop in quarterly profit..

Fed policy meeting
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve policymakers began their two-day meeting, at which they are not expected to lift interest rates.

"There's incredible uncertainty surrounding fiscal policy and the potential for stimulus and the composition of that," Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, told Reuters.

"The Fed can't react until it knows what to react to."

Gold rose 1.3% to $US1208.60 an ounce, its second consecutive session of gains. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note slipped to 2.451% from 2.486% on Monday.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index ended the session with a 0.7% fall from the previous close.

The UK's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.3%, while France's CAC 40 Index gave up 0.8% and Germany's DAX Index dropped 1.3 %.

(BusinessDesk)