US close: Stocks close mixed as 3M weighs on Dow
US stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday as the busiest day of the earnings season kicked off amid fresh headlines around the ongoing US-China trade talks.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.11% at 26,805.53, while the S&P 500 was up 0.19% at 3,010.27 and the Nasdaq Composite traded 0.81% higher at 8,185.80.
The Dow closed 28.42 points lower on Thursday after seeing out the previous session higher, as a big earnings miss and a downgrade to its full-year outlook from market bellwether Caterpillar's was offset by some positive headlines regarding Boeing's 737 Max aircraft, even if some observers labelled the latter wishful thinking.
There was apparently scant reaction from investors to a Bloomberg report that China had offered to raise its purchase of US farm goods back to $20bn a year, the same level as before the trade war began in 2017, as part of a phase one trade agreement - and to possibly boost them to $40-50bn in the second year of a potential final deal, assuming all punitive tariffs were removed.
Earlier in the session, analysts at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch warned clients that they were "cautious on optimism".
"While markets have become more optimistic about the trade war, we remain cautious, with our core macro views unchanged," said the bank.
Market focus for Thursday was otherwise centred on corporate news again, with several blue-chip firms reporting throughout the session.
Comcast shares lost 1.92% despite reporting some strong earnings as falling cable subscriptions spooked investors, while American Airlines shares flew 3.96% higher after topping estimates.
Twitter shares tanked 20.83% following a revenue and profits miss, while the Dow's loss was mostly attributable to a 4.07% drop in 3M shares.
Microsoft rose as earnings and revenues beat analyst expectations.
On the data front, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, according to data from the Labor Department.
US initial jobless claims declined by 6,000 to 212,000, with the previous week's level revised up by 4,000. Analysts had expected claims to rise to 215,000.
Elsewhere, orders for US durable goods in September fell back at twice the pace expected by economists, amid lower order intakes for automobiles and parts, and for commercial aircraft.
According to the Department of Commerce, total orders for US durable goods fell at a month-on-month pace of 1.1% to $248.16bn (consensus: 0.6%).
Some fresh data from IHS Markit on Thursday also revealed that its advance Purchasing Managers' Index report for October expanded at a more robust pace than originally expected - with the manufacturing PMI coming in at 51.5 and beating market expectation of 50.7. The Services PMI ticked up to 51 from 50.9 as expected and the Composite PMI improved to 51.2 from 51.
Lastly, new home dipped in September as low inventories continued to weigh on sales despite prices registering their biggest monthly fall in half a decade.
The Commerce Department revealed on Thursday that new home sales declined 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 701,000 units last month, matching expectations, while August's sales pace was revised down to 706,000 units from the previously reported 713,000 units.
The median new house price fell 8.8% to $299,400.
Market participants were also mulling over news that the European Central Bank had kept all its main policy settings unchanged, with Thursday's governing council meeting set to be the last for its current chief, Mario Draghi.