U.S. stock indexes veered lower Thursday as investors weighed the latest company earnings news and moves in oil markets. Energy companies were down after a meeting of OPEC ministers ended without an agreement on cutting production of crude. Technology stocks also fell.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 20 points, or 0.1%, to 17,769 as of 12:23 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell three points, or 0.2%, to 2,095. The Nasdaq composite index declined nine points, or 0.2%, to 4,943.
Trading has been subdued as investors hold out for more clues as to whether the Federal Reserve will raise its key interest rate at the central bank’s next meeting of policymakers this month.
“This is just noise trading around on low volume,” said Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “Even with tomorrow’s employment data coming out, I don’t think there’s much that’s going to move the market out of this range we’ve been in until we get some clarity out of the Fed.”
ENERGY: OPEC oil ministers ended a meeting in Vienna without reaching a consensus on regulating supplies. Crude oil prices bounced back after an initial slide. Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 13 cents, or 0.3%, to $49.14 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, was up 29 cents, or 0.6%, at $50.01 a barrel in London.
OIL FALLOUT: Shares in several oil drilling and exploration companies were down. Diamond Offshore Drilling dropped 3.1% to $24.53, Transocean slid 1.7% to $9.66 and Anadarko Petroleum fell 1.9% to $51.41.
ROUGH QUARTER: Conn’s sank 23.7% to $8.93 after the retailer reported quarterly results that fell short of analysts’ estimates.
IN THE CLOUD: Online storage provider Box tumbled 9.8% to $11.55 after the company reported disappointing results late Wednesday.
COME ON, VOGUE: Johnson & Johnson rose on news the company has agreed to buy Vogue International, a privately held maker of hair care products, for about $3.3 billion. Vogue’s hair care products are sold in the U.S. and 38 other countries. Johnson & Johnson shares rose 1% to $113.95.
SEXY SALES: L Brands, the company behind the Victoria’s Secret brand, rose 3% to $70.47 after it reported its latest sales figures.
LAYOFFS PROXY: The Labor Department said fewer Americans applied for jobless aid last week, the third straight drop in a sign that the job market remains healthy despite a recent slowdown in hiring.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, stock indexes were mixed after the European Central Bank said that its stimulus measures are helping the economy of the 19 countries that use the euro and need time to work before any new monetary jolts are added. Germany’s DAX was flat, France’s CAC 40 was down 0.2% and Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.1%.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.3% after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided to postpone a sales tax hike to avoid shocks to the faltering recovery. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.5%. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.1%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.8%.
BONDS AND CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.80% from 1.84%. In currency markets, the dollar fell to 108.70 yen from 109.54. The euro fell to $1.1156 from $1.1186.
UPDATES:
10:03 a.m.: This article was updated with more recent prices and additional information.
This article was originally published at 7:01 a.m.
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