Stocks opened in negative territory and have been there all morning. The averages saw their best levels shortly after the open, but the selling that ensued pushed the Dow and S&P into a hole to begin the month of May. The capital goods sector is leading the decline as the sector is still reeling from last week’s comments out of Caterpillar (CAT) that raised concerns about peak earnings. Technology is little changed as investors await Apple’s (AAPL) results after the close. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the final Markit manufacturing PMI for April was in-line with the flash reading at 56.5. The ISM manufacturing index fell 2.0 points to 57.3 in April, which was below expectations for a reading of 58.5. Construction spending was weak for March, falling 1.7%, though there was a large upward revision to February. On the trade front, the White House has permanently exempted Argentina, Brazil, and Australia from the steel and aluminum tariffs and extended the exemption by 30 days for the EU, Canada, and Mexico. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Pfizer (PFE) have declined 5% after the drugmaker reported earnings that were slightly better than expected, revenues that were a bit worse than expected and backed its prior full-year guidance. Additionally, the drugmaker said it is taking a split “off the table for the foreseeable future” as it has not received an “acceptable offer” for its Consumer Healthcare business. Drugmaking peer Merck (MRK) similarly reported slightly better than expected profits on sales that were somewhat below the consensus forecast and narrowed its full-year profit forecast, sending its shares down about 3%… Elsewhere in healthcare, Aetna (AET) posted better than expected earnings and revenue, with chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini stating that its core businesses performed well in the quarter and that its Medicare growth strategy remains on track. Aetna shares were little changed near noon following the report… Under Armour (UAA) shares slid 3.5% after the company reported a break-even quarter on an adjusted basis but also guided to lower profits for the full-year than were expected. Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank said on the company’s Q1 earnings conference call that his company is in the “midst of an inflection point,” but is executing well and making “solid” progress against its goals. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Karyopharm (KPTI), which rose 15% after it reported “positive” top-line results from the Phase 2b STORM study. Also higher were NutriSystem (NTRI) and Tenet (THC), which each gained about 20% after reporting quarterly results. Among the notable losers was KLX Inc. (KLXI), which fell 10% after it agreed to sell its Aerospace Solutions Group business to Boeing (BA) and to spin-off to KLX shareholders its Energy Services Group business. Also lower were Commscope (COMM) and Seagate (STX), which fell 30% and 9%, respectively, after reporting quarterly results. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 318.33, or 1.32%, to 23,844.82, the Nasdaq was down 17.58, or 0.25%, to 7,048.69 and the S&P 500 was down 18.31, or 0.69%, to 2,629.74.