US stocks finish mixed amid more tech selling
In this April 30, 2014, file photo, traders Kevin Walsh, left, and John Panin work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. US stocks finished mixed Thursday but some selling pressure continued to dog the technology sector amid worries about overvaluations. AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW
NEW YORK—US stocks finished mixed Thursday but some selling pressure continued to dog the technology sector amid worries about overvaluations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 32.43 points (0.20 percent) to 16,570.97.
The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 2.58 (0.14 percent) to 1,875.63, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite lost 16.18 (0.40 percent) to 4,051.50.
Trade was heavy in Twitter, which rebounded 3.7 percent after two days of sharp selling sparked by the end of a blackout period for pre-IPO investors like employees to sell their shares.
AT&T picked up 1.8 percent amid signs that DirecTV (-1.8 percent) might be open to a takeover by the telecom giant.
Drug maker Merck, meanwhile, sank 1.8 percent, continuing its fall since announcing a deal to sell its consumer-care business to Bayer for $14.2 billion.
Tesla, the electric sports car maker whose first quarter earnings and outlook disappointed investors, led the Nasdaq losses with a 11.3 percent drop.
Also falling were online travel booker Priceline (-2.1 percent), Facebook (-1.1 percent) and Apple (-0.7 percent).
Kuerig Green Mountain Coffee jolted 12 percent higher on its strong earnings of $1.08 a share, handily beating forecasts of 95 cents.
Disney, the entertainment and theme park giant, pushed up 1.6 percent, reversing a profit-taking sell-off that came after its buoyant quarterly earnings report Tuesday.
Bond prices fell after the Treasury on Thursday faced unexpectedly weak demand in its auction of $16 billion worth of 30-year bonds.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.61 percent from 2.59 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year rose to 3.43 percent from 3.40 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
