US stocks slip

Wall Street ended slightly lower today as investors took profits amid nervousness about the US government’s second-quarter gross domestic product report. Concerns about another product delay at Microsoft weighed down the technology sector.

Robust earnings growth at major oil companies lifted stocks through most of the session, with Exxon Mobil posting the second-highest profit yet reported by a public US company and Royal Dutch Shell PLC seeing a 40% jump in its income.