US close: Markets mixed as trade concerns simmer higher
Stocks on Wall Street finished mixed but little changed on Thursday, as market participants continued to focus on trade developments between the world's two largest economies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down just 0.006% at 27,781.96, the S&P 500 was up 0.08% at 3,096.63, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.04% to close at 8,479.02.
At the open, the Dow was just 3.81 points higher after closing higher in the previous session, as investors digested Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's testimony to the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress, in which he noted that significant risks to the economic outlook remained.
Trade was still very much at the top of the agenda too, with talks between Washington and Beijing said to have hit a brick wall over the exact size and schedule for Chinese agricultural purchases, alongside a report on Wednesday that China was resisting requests from the US to curb tech transfers and for enforcement mechanisms.
Donald Trump said China had agreed to purchase up to $50bn-worth of soybeans, pork and other agricultural products from the US per year.
However, China was said to be wary of putting a numerical commitment in the text of an agreement, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“The recent gains in equity markets over the past few weeks have been predicated on one particular outcome, that of the US and China arriving at some form of thaw when it comes to relations on trade,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
“Reports last night that the US, China talks had hit a snag in their talks to agree on specifics when it comes to agricultural purchases, also pointed to the difficulties in trying to square the circle of an agreement, and this particular area was supposed to be the easy bit, with intellectual property and other more thorny issues pushed into a phase two.”
China reiterated its call for the US to roll back its trade tariffs as part of a preliminary trade deal between the two powers and pushed back on requests to provide detailed targets for increasing its purchases of US farm goods.
“The trade war was begun with adding tariffs, and should be ended by cancelling these additional tariffs,” said Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng.
“This is an important condition for both sides to reach an agreement.”
Beijing tried to minimise the ongoing trade tensions by proposing that both countries roll back their tariffs after they had signed "phase one", but Washington had reportedly balked at the idea.
Also in focus, data out overnight revealed that China’s factory output growth slowed by significantly more than expected in October, as weakness in global and domestic demand and the drawn-out Sino-US trade war weighed on broad segments of the world’s second-largest economy.
On the US data front meanwhile, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose by more than expected last week, according to figures released by the Labor Department.
US initial jobless claims rose by 14,000 from the previous to 225,000, marking the highest reading since June.
Economists had expected a level of 215,000.
The four-week moving average came in at 217,000, up 1,750 from the previous week.
Elsewhere, wholesale inflation fell back by less than expected in October as energy and food prices bounced back.
According to the Department of Labor, so-called final demand prices increased at a month-on-month pace of 0.4%, higher than consensus expectations for 0.3%, while the annual rate of advance slipped from 1.4% to 1.1%, compared to consensus forecasts for 0.9%.
Compared to the month before, final demand prices for goods rose by 0.7%, with food up 1.3% and energy ahead 2.8%, and those of services by 0.3%, with trade up 0.8%, transportation and warehousing 0.3% higher, and the ‘other’ category rising 0.1%.
In prepared remarks for a speech before the US House of Representatives Budget Committee, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said he did not yet anticipate trade tensions spilling over from manufacturing into the rest of the economy.
In corporate news, Walmart shares reversed earlier gains to fall 0.27%, after the retail giant topped third quarter earnings estimates.
Cisco Systems remained under the cosh, falling 7.33% following some weak revenue guidance.
Dow Jones - Risers
Boeing Co. (BA) $367.44 1.36%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $255.88 0.89%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $236.57 0.75%
American Express Co. (AXP) $120.93 0.56%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $148.06 0.51%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $52.63 0.42%
3M Co. (MMM) $170.93 0.22%
Visa Inc. (V) $179.75 0.19%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $128.70 0.09%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $219.43 0.05%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $44.91 -7.33%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $147.15 -1.06%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $143.44 -0.73%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $262.64 -0.69%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $194.00 -0.51%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $61.94 -0.50%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $68.50 -0.44%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $134.00 -0.36%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $84.55 -0.32%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $120.65 -0.27%
S&P 500 - Risers
Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $35.83 3.55%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $61.98 3.18%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $20.29 3.10%
HP Inc (HPQ) $20.13 3.07%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $12.32 2.92%
Xerox Corp. (XRX) $38.65 2.79%
Copart Inc. (CPRT) $85.82 2.66%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $114.10 2.49%
HollyFrontier Corp (HFC) $53.88 2.45%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $17.15 2.45%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $44.91 -7.33%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $30.96 -7.03%
Centerpoint Energy Inc. (CNP) $26.69 -4.98%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $338.39 -2.85%
Mohawk Inds Inc. (MHK) $143.22 -2.64%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $19.43 -2.56%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $275.15 -2.39%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $98.75 -2.36%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $85.79 -1.88%
Hess Corp. (HES) $67.85 -1.62%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $536.54 4.44%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $114.10 2.49%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $289.62 2.30%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $122.30 1.69%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $259.36 1.61%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $97.54 1.60%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $103.73 1.58%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $6.98 1.45%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $95.33 1.41%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $112.84 1.30%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $44.91 -7.33%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $30.96 -7.03%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $31.30 -4.43%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $338.39 -2.85%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $20.51 -2.84%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $275.15 -2.39%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $98.75 -2.36%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $10.05 -2.05%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $85.79 -1.88%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $289.68 -1.81%