By Anora Mahmudova and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks lost ground Thursday as
investors focused on fresh Russia-Ukraine tensions, and reports of
a Malaysia Airlines jet crashing in Ukraine.
The market also digested a mixed bag of company earnings and
economic data. Microsoft shares surged on its plans to cut up to
18,000 jobs, but SanDisk, Mattel and AutoNation tumbled following
disappointing earnings.
The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 9 points, or 0.5%, to 1,972. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average (DJI) lost 52 points, or 0.3%, to 17,086,
erasing gains after the blue-chip index set an intraday record
earlier in the session. Gold surged and treasury yields fell.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) shed 29 points, or 0.7%, to
4,397.
Investors woke up to renewed geopolitical risks after news that
a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by missiles from a Russian
plane. Then came reports that a Malaysia Airlines plane had crashed
in Ukraine.
The U.S. also has unveiled a new round of sanctions against
Russia, and the European Union said it would detail new sanctions
against Russia by the end of this month. European stocks fell
sharply on Thursday. Read: Russian stocks pounded after U.S.
imposes new sanctions.
In U.S. economic news, reports on weekly jobless claims and
manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area came in better than
expected. But construction on new U.S. homes was far weaker than
expected, tumbling to the slowest pace in nine months.
"It appears that after strong gains in June, investors are using
any excuse to take some money off the table. We had lackluster
jobless claims and poor housing data and news out of Ukraine and
Russia. But a 'buy the dip' mentality is still prevalent in this
market," said Joe Bell, senior equity analyst at Schaeffer's
Investment Research.
Microsoft plans major layoffs, SanDisk results disappoint
In corporate news, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares rallied 0.7%
after the tech company said it would cut 18,000 jobs over the next
year in a bid to simplify operations and integrate its Nokia
Devices and Services business. It also said it would take a
restructuring charge between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion over the
next year.
Blackstone Group L.P. (BX) reported stronger-than-expected
second-quarter earnings on the back of gains from asset sales in
its private-equity business. The shares rose 2.3%.
Mattel (MAT) shares fell 5.9% as quarterly earnings were dragged
lower by muted sales of Barbie dolls.
SanDisk (SNDK) shares sank 12% after the flash-memory maker's
third-quarter revenue forecast was lighter than anticipated. Read
more about the day's notable movers here.
After trading closes Thursday, Google (GOOG) is expected to post
earnings of $6.25 a share on revenue of $12.3 billion. Shares were
down 1.1%. Read Need To Know: Janet Yellen might disagree, but
Amazon tapped as screaming buy.
Investors will monitor comments from St. Louis Fed President
James Bullard, who is slated to speak in Kentucky about monetary
policy at 1:35 p.m. Eastern Time. Bullard said in a Bloomberg
interview last week that a continued decline in U.S. unemployment
could push inflation above the Fed's 2% target by the end of 2015.
Bullard isn't a voting member of the Fed's policy-making
committee.
In other markets, gold futures (GCQ4) jumped, and oil also rose.
Asian stocks overnight closed mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Average
down 0.1%.
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