Stocks fell Thursday, putting the S&P 500 three-day winning streak at risk. The benchmark has been on a tear this week after the Trump administration and China hammered out a temporary suspension of their tit-for-tat tariff dispute. UnitedHealth tumbled 11%; Alibaba fell 6%.
Confidence in the immediate outlook for stocks has strengthened in the wake of last weekend’s talks between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese officials that appeared to stave off a short-term decline in economic activity and a ratcheting up in inflation. The enthusiasm mostly continued Wednesday, with the S&P 500 advancing 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite rising 0.7%. It was also the sixth straight winning day for the tech-heavy index. The 30-stock Dow slipped 0.2%.
Tech giants are putting up a strong showing week to date: Nvidia and Tesla are both up more than 16%, and Meta Platforms has added 11.3% in the period. Amazon and Alphabet are both up more than 8% each. The Nasdaq Composite is higher by 6.8% this week, trailed by the S&P 500, ahead 4.11%, and the Dow, up 1.9%.
Traders also assessed the state of the economy on Thursday, with an unexpected decline in wholesale prices last month. The producer price index for April declined 0.5% month-over-month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast PPI would increase 0.3% on the month. Retail sales increased 0.1% in April, which matched consensus estimates, while industrial production numbers for April decreased slightly more than expected.
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