US stocks finish little changed after volatile session
Traders Tommy Kalikas, seated foreground, and Gregory Rowe, standing, confer in a booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. Wall Street finished little changed after another rocky trading session Thursday, as the market weighed better US economic data against its fears over sluggish global growth. AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW
NEW YORK–Wall Street finished little changed after another rocky trading session Thursday, as the market weighed better US economic data against its fears over sluggish global growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 24.50 (0.15 percent) to 16,117.24, rebounding after losing more than 200 points earlier in the session.
The broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.27 (0.01 percent) to 1,862.76, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.07 (0.05 percent) to 4,217.39.
US stocks appeared headed for another dismal performance early in the day as fears over the European economy took hold.
But investors took heart from a 1.0 percent gain in US industrial production in September and a drop in weekly jobless claims to a 14-year low.
Analysts also cited comments from James Bullard, head of the St Louis branch of the Fed, who suggested the central bank could extend its bond-buying program rather than winding it down, as had been expected.
“The stock market is showing some interesting signs of life,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.
Delta Air Lines rose 2.9 percent after it gave a bullish outlook for the fourth quarter and officials said they did not expect the Ebola virus to significantly affect airline travel.
Competitors United Airlines (+2.9 percent) and American Airlines (+4.0 percent) also rose.
Video-streaming company Netflix plummeted 19.4 percent on disappointing subscriber growth figures.
Apple dropped 1.3 percent as it unveiled a thinner version of its iPad tablet and said its mobile payment system, known as Apple Pay, would begin operations on Monday.
Toymaker Mattel fell 3.0 percent after reporting a 22 percent fall in third-quarter net income to $331.8 million, due in part to a 21 percent drop in sales of the iconic Barbie doll.
US pharmaceutical company Abbvie dropped 3.2 percent after announcing that its board of directors no longer backs a $54 billion takeover of Irish-based competitor Shire following new US tax rules that discourage inversion deals in which a US company shifts its headquarters overseas.
Chesapeake Energy bolted 17.0 percent higher following news it will sell shale oil and gas assets to Southwestern Energy for $5.4 billion. Southwestern tumbled 10.4 percent.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to 2.15 percent from 2.09 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.94 percent from 2.88 percent. Bond yields and prices move inversely.
