Thursday, 10 September 2015 19:38
NEW YORK: US stocks were essentially flat early Thursday as markets remained volatile on concerns about global growth and the prospect of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 16,250.53, down 3.04 points (0.02 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.34 (0.02 percent) at 1,941.70, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 6.20 (0.13 percent) to 4,762.73.
US markets have been choppy since the Monday holiday, with strong gains Tuesday followed by stiff falls Wednesday that pushed the S&P 500 down 1.4 percent. Equity markets in Asia and Europe fell Thursday following previous gains.
“It appears as though the bullish momentum is fading once more,” said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
Yoga-attire maker Lululemon Athletica tumbled 9.7 percent after it projected 35-37 cents per share in third-quarter earnings, well below the 43 cents expected by Wall Street analysts.
Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks rose 5.6 percent as it forecast sales of $ 280-$ 284 million for the current quarter, more than the $ 269.7 million expected by analysts.
Trucking and logistics company Con-way shot up 33.3 percent on news it will be acquired by rival XPO Logistics for $ 3.0 billion. XPO fell 11.9 percent.
Discount retailer Dollar Tree fell 2.1 percent after it was downgraded by Credit Suisse, which said its integration of the Family Dollar acquisition is off to a poor start.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.22 percent from 2.19 percent, while the 30-year advanced to 2.98 percent from 2.95 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
