Disappointing Earnings Weigh Down Markets

&lt;p&gt;The markets opened lower amidst disappointing earnings with the Dow losing 38 points to 7803 while Nasdaq slipped 8 points to 1600.&lt;/p&gt;<br /> &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On the upside&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;<br />

&lt;p&gt;Coca-Cola (Nasdaq: KO) blamed charges and writedowns for lower first quarter earnings but the results met estimates.&lt;/p&gt;<br />

&lt;p&gt;Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM) offered approximately $764 million to acquire Emulex (NYSE: ELX).&lt;/p&gt;<br />

&lt;p&gt;Although third quarter earnings fell for Coach (NYSE: COH), revenue topped estimates and the luxury handbag maker announced an annual cash dividend of 30 cents per share.&lt;/p&gt;<br />

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On the downside&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;<br />&lt;p&gt;Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) posted a quarterly loss for the first time in 17 years due to significant charges and slashed its full year outlook.&lt;/p&gt;<br />

&lt;p&gt;First quarter earnings for Merck (NYSE: MRK) plunged to miss expectations as sales fell.&lt;/p&gt;<br />

&lt;p&gt;KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) reported a wider than expected loss and cut its quarterly dividend.&lt;/p&gt;<br />

&lt;p&gt;In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by&amp;nbsp;10&amp;nbsp;to&amp;nbsp;9 on Nasdaq.&amp;nbsp; The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a fraction to 452. &lt;/p&gt;