(Bloomberg News) The Standard & Poor's 500 Index snapped a three-day advance amid disappointing corporate results and after Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said adequate economic stimulus is in place.

Priceline.com Inc., the biggest U.S. online travel agency by market value, tumbled 14 percent after forecasting earnings that missed forecasts. McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant chain, retreated 2.8 percent as sales were unchanged worldwide in July. Hewlett-Packard Co. rallied 2.6 percent after raising its third-quarter profit forecast.

About eight stocks fell for every five that rose on U.S. exchanges at 9:53 a.m. in New York. The S&P 500 slid 0.2 percent to 1,398.70, after rising 2.7 percent in the previous three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 19.38 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,149.22. Trading in S&P 500 companies was down 13 percent from the 30-day average at this time of day.

"The market has gotten a bit ahead of itself on speculation of central bank action," said Kevin Caron, a market strategist in Florham Park, New Jersey, at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which has more than $127 billion in client assets. "Even as the U.S. economy is moving at a relatively slow pace, there's very little evidence that encourages the Fed to come in with another significant round of quantitative easing."

Equities dropped as the Fed's Fisher said global central banks may not have the capacity to undertake additional measures. Stocks rose yesterday as Fed Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said the central bank should pursue an "open- ended" easing program of "substantial magnitude."

Earnings Season

Investors also watched corporate results. Almost 59 percent of S&P 500 companies which reported second-quarter sales have missed analysts' estimates, Bloomberg data showed.

Priceline tumbled 14 percent to $581.45. Consumers in Europe -- one of the main engines of growth for Priceline -- put off travel amid an economic crisis there. The company had been boosting sales in the region after the 2005 acquisition of Amsterdam-based Booking.com. Results were also dragged down as the strength of the U.S. dollar eroded the value of overseas receipts, said Chief Executive Officer Jeffery Boyd.

Rival Expedia Inc. declined 1.5 percent to $58, while Orbitz Worldwide Inc. decreased 20 percent to $3.73.

McDonald's slumped 2.8 percent to $86.55. The company's U.S. sales decline was the worst performance since January 2010 as Americans pulled back spending amid flagging consumer confidence.

Missing Estimates

Ralph Lauren Corp. sank 3.3 percent to $147.94. The retailer of its namesake brand clothing projected second-quarter sales that trailed analysts' estimates.

Warner Chilcott Plc fell 7.9 percent to $16.36. The drugmaker specializing in women's health and dermatology said it has ended efforts to find a buyer for the company.

Hewlett-Packard rallied 2.6 percent to $19.45. Profit excluding some items in the current period will be $1, up from a prior projection of 94 cents to 97 cents, the Palo Alto, California-based company said today in a statement.

Dean Foods Co. jumped 34 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $16.70. Its WhiteWave unit, the maker of Silk almond milk, filed to raise $300 million in a U.S. initial public offering.

Macy's Inc. rose 3.4 percent to $38.26. The owner of its namesake and Bloomingdale's department stores reported second- quarter profit that beat estimates, helped by its credit cards.

Company Turnaround

Computer Sciences Corp. gained 14 percent to $29.08. The technology contractor for government and corporate customers reported profit and revenue that topped estimates as its new chief executive officer works on turning the company around.

Express Scripts Holding Co. added 6.6 percent to $59.72. The largest U.S. processor of drug prescriptions raised its annual profit forecast as gross margins improved following its April acquisition of Medco Health Solutions Inc.

The S&P 500 is in a "make-or-break situation" that will probably lead to either large gains or losses for the benchmark U.S. stocks gauge, according to technical analysts at UBS AG.

After climbing through the 1,390 level, the S&P 500 may go on to test the highs reached in March and May, Michael Riesner and Marc Mueller in Zurich wrote in a report dated yesterday. A drop below 1,325 would indicate a retreat to the early-June low of 1,266. That would be a 9.7 percent slide from yesterday's close of 1,401.35.

Future Moves

Investors should watch the flow of money into so-called defensive stocks, whose earnings are less dependent on economic growth, and cyclicals, which are more tied to the performance of the economy, for signs of future moves in the S&P 500, the analysts said.

"The U.S. market remains in a classic make-or-break situation, where a breakout and a subsequent trend move shouldn't be too far away," they wrote. "Either the market is able to start a new momentum impulse -- and for this we would need to see a rotation on the sector basis, from defensives into financials or cyclicals -- or the S&P 500 will very soon get a breadth problem, when defensives are starting to pull back."