U.S. stocks retreated

U.S. stocks retreated, following the biggest advance in more than a month for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as Intel Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. drove a technology slump after reporting results.

Stocks retreated after Intel and IBM posted the slowest sales growth in years as Europe’s economic slump weighed on orders last quarter. Equities also joined European shares lower after Bank of England policy makers said inflation may be higher than forecast. Spain will auction 3.3 percent two-year notes and 5.85 percent 10-year debt tomorrow.

Dow   13,050.15   -65.39 -0.50%, Nasdaq    3,029.15    -13.67 -0.45%, S&P 500 1,385.74    -5.04     -0.36%

Intel (INTC) slumped 2 percent to $27.90, while IBM (IBM) retreated 2.9 percent to $201.42. IBM’s revenue climbed 0.3 percent to $24.7 billion in the period, while Intel sales rose 0.5 percent to $12.9 billion. That was the smallest increase for either company since the third quarter of 2009, when the U.S. economy was just emerging from recession. Even so, Intel predicted a pickup in sales for the current quarter.

Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares lost 1.3 percent to $119,775. Buffett, 81, will begin a two-month treatment of daily radiation in July, he said. The regimen will restrict his travel during the period and not otherwise change his daily routine, said Buffett, who is also chief executive officer of the Omaha, Nebraska-based company.

Genworth Financial Inc. tumbled 21 percent to $6.09. The life insurer and mortgage guarantor firm postponed plans for a public offering of its Australian unit backing home loans after “elevated” losses in the nation.

Yahoo! Inc. advanced 2.9 percent to $15.45 after reporting first-quarter sales that topped estimates, fueling optimism that a turnaround effort by Chief Executive Officer Scott Thompson may take hold.