Wall St. flat as railroads slide after CSX signals trade impact

U.S. stock indexes dipped on Wednesday as weak results from CSX Corp stoked concerns that the protracted trade war between the United States and China could hurt corporate earnings. CSX (O:CSX) shares tumbled 9.9% and were set for their biggest one-day drop since 2008 after the rail freight company posted lower-than-expected quarterly profit and cut its full-year revenue forecast. Ongoing trade tensions have contributed to a decline in truck and rail freight volumes in the first half of 2019. The losses in CSX shares helped push down the S&P 500 industrials index (SPLRCI), whose 1.9% slide was the largest among the S&P's 11 major sectors. The Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJT) fell 3.2%. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, a compendium of anecdotes from U.S. businesses, also pointed to trade-related pressures on transportation and manufacturing companies.