US STOCKS-Wall Street on edge after Hong Kong protests bill

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* BofA, PNC, BNY Mellon rise on strong results
* Drug distributors seek to settle opioid lawsuits-WSJ
* United Airlines gains on raising 2019 profit forecast
* Indexes off: Dow 0.21%, S&P 500 0.25%, Nasdaq 0.44%

(Updates to open)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Arjun Panchadar
Oct 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street inched lower on Wednesday, as
a congressional bill related to the Hong Kong protests stoked
fears of more friction with China, even as another round of
positive earnings reports underlined a solid start to
third-quarter results.
Bank of America BAC.N rose 2.2% after beating analysts'
estimates for third-quarter profit as the second-largest U.S.
bank by assets earned more in advisory fees and grew its loan
book. PNC Financial Services Group Inc PNC.N and Bank of New
York Mellon Corp BK.N also rose after better-than-expected
earnings. The reports followed robust results on Tuesday from JPMorgan
Chase & Co JPM.N and Citigroup Inc C.N , showing consumer
confidence remained strong despite recession fears that have led
businesses to pull back on spending and borrowing. "We had a pretty good celebration yesterday after the first
busy day of earnings and we got another busy day today, so I
think that the path of least resistance is a little bit lower
today," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National
Securities in New York.
The S&P 500 bank sector .SPXBK gained 0.4% after hitting a
one-year high on Tuesday.
Analysts have forecast the worst quarterly earnings season
in nearly three years for S&P 500 companies, as domestic
economic growth shows signs of slowing on the fallout from the
tariff war with China.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed
legislation related to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. In
response, China warned that bilateral relations would be damaged
if the measures became law. Conflicting reports on an orderly exit for Britain from the
European Union also added to the mix. But analysts project market action to turn positive through
the session, as optimism from solid earnings reports overshadows
mixed political headlines.
Early action showed advancing issues outnumbered decliners
by a 1.02-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.09-to-1 ratio on the
Nasdaq.
At 10:01 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 57.19 points, or 0.21 percent, at 26,967.61, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 7.62 points, or 0.25 percent, at 2,988.06 and
the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 36.04 points, or 0.44
percent, at 8,112.66.
United Airlines UAL.O was up 1.2% after beating analyst
estimates for quarterly profit, and increased its 2019 profit
target. Abbott Laboratories ABT.N fell 1.8% after the medical
device maker trimmed the upper end of its full-year earnings
forecast and missed quarterly revenue estimates. Its results were in sharp contrast to Johnson & Johnson
JNJ.N and UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N on Tuesday.
Adobe Inc ADBE.O fell 3.8% after Citigroup downgraded the
photoshop software maker's stock. It was among the biggest drags
on the tech sector.
Tech heavyweights Netflix Inc NFLX.O and International
Business Machines IBM.N are due to report later on Wednesday.
McKesson MCK.N , AmerisourceBergen ABC.N and Cardinal
Health CAH.N jumped between 5% and 6% after a report that the
drug distributors were in talks with state and local governments
to settle thousands of opioid lawsuits for $18 billion.

Data on Wednesday showed a fall in U.S. retail sales for the
first time in seven months in September.
The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and no new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 13 new highs and 36 new lows.