NEW YORK: US stock indexes were mixed in choppy trading on Thursday as investors weighed progress in trade negotiations with Japan against concerns about the monetary policy outlook, while a slump in UnitedHealth’s shares weighed on the Dow.
Investors found some optimism from US President Donald Trump’s comments on “big progress” in trade talks with Japan after steep losses on Wednesday, but an early recovery quickly fizzled out.
Meanwhile, UnitedHealth plunged 23% and weighed on the blue-chip Dow after the insurer lowered its annual profit forecast on expectations of high medical costs for the rest of the year.
Other health insurers slumped, with CVS Health down 2.5% and Humana falling 6.7%.
Focus will be on tariff negotiation talks with dozens of countries over the coming weeks for more clarity on the size and scope of tariffs on individual nations and sectors.
“(The market) could change at any moment … everyone’s guessing right now as to what’s going to transpire as far as tariffs are concerned,” said Tom Bruce, macro investment strategist at Tanglewood Total Wealth Management.
At 11:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 506.08 points, or 1.28%, to 39,163.31, the S&P 500 gained 12.25 points, or 0.23%, to 5,287.95, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 39.30 points, or 0.23%, to 16,269.24.
Wall Street had extended losses on Wednesday after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Trump’s trade policies risked pushing inflation higher while weakening economic growth, adding policymakers needed more clarity before adjusting policy.
Trump hit back on Thursday, saying in a post on his social media platform Truth Social that Powell’s termination “cannot come fast enough” and calling for the US central bank to cut interest rates.
“It’s been known that Trump hasn’t been happy with Powell … the question is, does he attempt to do anything about it,” Bruce said, adding that such a move would severely damage confidence in US markets.
Traders have scaled back bets of a May rate cut to about 10%, according to CME’s FedWatch, while a Reuters poll showed economists see a higher probability of a US recession in the next 12 months.
On the day, however, data showed weekly jobless claims came in lower than expected, suggesting the labor market remains stable.
Ahead of the long weekend, all three major Wall Street indexes are on track for their third weekly decline in four, with the S&P 500 on pace to lose about 1.5% after its best week since November 2023.
Alphabet’s shares dropped 1.5% after a federal judge ruled Google illegally dominated two markets for online advertising technology.
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