Stocks opened lower following disappointing retail sales figures from December. The data missed analyst's estimates by a wide margin and put the sellers in control for the opening hour. The market began to pare its losses, but the move was short-circuited when a report said the U.S. and China remained far apart on trade talks. After an initial move lower, the averages began to move off their lows and toward positive ground. The Nasdaq managed to close in positive territory and the Dow and S&P improved from their worst levels, but finished with small losses.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., retail sales were reported to have dropped 1.2% in December, with the ex-autos figure plunging 1.8%, widely missing expectations. The surprising 1.2% retail sales decline was broad-based and followed downward revisions to the October and November data. The Producer Prices Index dipped 0.1%, with the core rising 0.3%, in January. Initial jobless claims rose 4,000 to 239,000 in the week ended February 9. November business inventories fell 0.1%, with sales falling 0.3%.
In political news, media reports indicated that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that President Donald Trump will sign a bill to keep the government open, but he will also declare a national emergency so he can bypass Congress and fund his plans to build a wall along the southwestern border.
In Britain, U.K. lawmakers voted against a government motion to back support for Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to seek changes to her Brexit deal.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Coca-Cola (KO) dropped 8.5% after the beverage giant provided disappointing guidance for 2019. The company also said it is seeing the impact of some increasing uncertainty and volatility in global macroeconomic conditions, but that demand for its brands remains "healthy."
Meanwhile, Cisco Systems (CSCO) shares rose 2% after the network equipment maker reported quarterly results that beat estimates. Cisco also said its board approved a $15B increase in the company stock buyback program and raised its quarterly dividend by 6%.
Amazon (AMZN) announced that it decided not to move forward with plans to build a headquarters in New York after as "a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence." The e-commerce giant added that it does not intend to reopen the HQ2 search at this time and will proceed as planned in Northern Virginia and Nashville, as well as continuing to hire and grow across its 17 corporate offices and tech hubs in the U.S. and Canada.
While JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon has bashed bitcoin as a "fraud," the CEO and his managers have consistently said that blockchain and regulated digital currencies held promise. Now, the firm reportedly has plans to be first major U.S. bank to launch its own cryptocurrency, the "JPM Coin," CNBC reported.
Additionally, Ford (F) was in focus after CNBC's Phil LeBeau reported that the automaker's CFO, Bob Shanks, is starting to plan his retirement.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was AstraZeneca (AZN), which rose 9% after it reported better than expected quarterly results and provided guidance for fiscal 2019. Also higher after reporting quarterly results were Precision Drilling (PDS) and Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA), which gained a respective 15% and 9%.
Among the notable losers was AIG (AIG), which fell 9% after it reported downbeat results for the fourth quarter. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were SurveyMonkey (SVMK) and Six Flags (SIX), which fell 16% and 13%, respectively.
INDEXES: The Dow fell 103.88, or 0.41%, to 25,439.39 , the Nasdaq gained 6.58, or 0.09%, to 7,426.95 , and the S&P 500 declined 7.30, or 0.27%, to 2,745.73 .
Coca-Cola
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Cisco
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Amazon.com
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JPMorgan
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Ford
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AstraZeneca
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Precision Drilling
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Vanda Pharmaceuticals
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AIG
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SurveyMonkey
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Six Flags
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