Stocks - Dow Falls as Consumer Discretionary Stocks See Red
Investing.com - The Dow closed lower Thursday as weakness in consumer discretionary names weighed on sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.27%, the S&P 500 lost 0.28%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.29%.
Falling consumer discretionary stocks pressured the broader market into the red, led by Booking.com owner Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG) and L Brands (NYSE:LB).
Both Booking and L Brands fell sharply after delivering mixed results, as earnings beat estimates from Investing.com, but revenue fell short.
On the economic front, the U.S. economy grew at an annual pace of 2.6% in the fourth quarter, in line with expectations, but well below the 3.4% growth in the third quarter, raising fears the economy likely made a slow start to the year.
But Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) said a slowdown in 2019 would likely be "manageable," pointing to an uptick in private domestic final sales and business investment in the fourth quarter from the third.
The data is unlikely to move the needle for the Fed on tightening in the next few months, but the central bank could abandon its pause later this year, probably sometime in the third quarter, Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) said.
In tech, HP (NYSE:HPQ) plummeted 17.3% after Bank of America Merrill Lynch double downgraded the company's stock to underperform from buy and cut its price target on the stock to $19. The downgrade arrived as the company posted fiscal first-quarter results that missed estimates on the top line.
Energy stocks were shunned, falling 1% despite U.S. oil prices settling higher, a day after the Energy Information Administration reported U.S. crude supplies unexpectedly fell last week.
On the trade front, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow touted progress on U.S.-China trade talks. But that did little to spark a bid in markets.
"The progress has been terrific," Kudlow told CNBC. But "we have to hear from the Chinese side. We have to hear from President Xi Jinping, of course. I think we're headed for a remarkable, historic deal."
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Wednesday said "much still needs to be done" to reach a trade deal.
Sentiment on Wall Street was also soured by an abrupt end to the U.S.-North Korea summit as talks between the leaders of both nations broke down.
In after-hours trade, Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) rallied after posting fourth-quarter results that beat on the bottom line but missed estimates on the top line.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST), Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) and Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
HP (NYSE:HPQ), Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) and Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.
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