Stocks mostly flat as traders digest corporate news, trade developments
Neuberger Berman Group CIO Joseph Amato on the outlook for stocks.
Stocks were mostly flat on Thursday, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 hovering near record levels as traders digested the continued stream of mostly positive earnings, while the long-running uncertainty over trade still weighed on markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.52 points, or 0.29%, to 25,509.23. The S&P 500 was down 4.12 points, closing at 2,853.58. The Nasdaq Composite edged 3.46 points higher to 7,891.78.
The Trump administration completed plans Tuesday to impose tariffs on an additional $16 billion of Chinese imports. China will match the U.S. and apply a 25% tariff on $16 billion worth of imported U.S. goods including crude oil, cars, coal, diesel, medical equipment and steel products. In total, the tariffs will be applied on 333 products and will be implemented on Aug. 23, the same day the U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods will take effect.
Major merger and acquisition activity occurred early Thursday, as Rite Aid and Albertsons scrapped their $24 billion deal, while Tribune terminated its merger agreement with Sinclair, and filed a lawsuit against its competitor.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 43750.86 | -207.33 | -0.47% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5949.17 | -36.21 | -0.60% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 19107.65077 | -123.07 | -0.64% |
Economic data out Thursday included weekly jobless claims which came in at 213,000 vs. the Thomson Reuters forecast for 220,000. Producer prices, a measure of inflation, were flat in July.
U.S. stocks were mixed on Wednesday after the Chinese government announced another round of retaliatory tariffs.
FOX Business’ Ken Martin contributed to this article.