US stocks slip after ECB rate cuts

This Aug. 9, 2011 file photo shows a Wall Street street sign near the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. U.S. stocks rose Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014, after the European Central Bank surprised traders by trimming its main interest rate to a record low, and announcing that it would purchase asset-backed securities in an effort to stimulate the region’s ailing economy. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

NEW YORK–US stocks closed lower Thursday despite an early boost from the European Central Bank’s move to further cut interest rates and launch an asset-purchase plan to beat back deflation pressures.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 8.70 points (0.05 percent) to 17,069.58.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 3.07 (0.15 percent) to 1,997.65, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 10.28 (0.22 percent) to 4,562.29.

Amid worries that the eurozone single currency area is threatened by stagnant growth and deflation, the ECB cut its main “refi” refinancing rate to 0.05 percent from 0.15 percent.

The bank also lowered its deposit rate and marginal lending rate and said it would undertake purchases of securities on a large scale to inject cash into the economy.

Equity markets in Britain, France and Germany all rose, but early gains on Wall Street, which took both the S&P 500 and the Dow to new intraday records, were given up in the afternoon.

US-traded shares of BP sank 5.9 percent after a New Orleans judge’s ruling in a civil suit on the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster set the company up for another huge fine that could reach $18 billion.

Google rose 0.7 percent as it reached an agreement with French luxury products group LVMH to work together to fight the sale of counterfeit goods online, ending nearly 10 years of litigation.

Amazon added 2 percent, as it announced a venture to enable children’s book authors to publish and promote both physical and electronic children books on the Kindle reader.

Big box retailer Costco jumped 3.1 percent after it reported a 7 percent gain in sales for August.

PVH, which owns Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and other apparel brands, surged 9.6 percent higher on second-quarter net income of $126.5 million, up from a $5.4 million loss a year ago. The results bested the company’s forecasts.

Yum Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and other fast-food chains, fell 0.9 percent on continued poor sales in China. The company said it is still suffering weak sales in the giant Asian economy, in the wake of a scandal involving a supplier who allegedly used expired meat.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.45 percent from 2.41 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year advanced to 3.21 percent from 3.16 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.