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* S&P, Dow register third straight losses
* Energy shares up, tracking oil prices
* TD Ameritrade surges as Schwab in talks to buy company
-CNBC
* Indexes down: Dow 0.2%, S&P 0.16%, Nasdaq 0.24%
(Updates to close)
By Sinéad Carew
Nov 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes moved slightly lower
on Thursday as investors moved to the sidelines with mixed
messages and no concrete signs of progress on U.S.-China
relations.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills to back
protesters in Hong Kong and send a warning to China about human
rights, a measure that angered Beijing.
But China still invited top U.S. trade negotiators for a new
round of face-to-face talks in Beijing, the Wall Street Journal
reported, citing unidentified sources. This was a day after stocks sold off on a report that a
phase 1 U.S.-China deal was not likely to happen this year.
As a result, investors were wary of putting further
bets on a trade deal and keeping in mind that stocks are still
near record highs.
"The fulcrum of this optimism see-saw is the prospects for
the phase 1 trade agreement. Investors are pulling petals from a
daisy saying, 'It'll happen this year, it won't,'" said Sam
Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New
York.
"They are basically saying 'We've pushed this as far as we
can.' Valuations appear stretched at 18.5 times forward earnings
compared with the 20-year average forward P/E Of 16.5," he said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 54.80 points,
or 0.2%, to 27,766.29, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.92 points, or
0.16%, to 3,103.54, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
20.52 points, or 0.24%, to 8,506.21.
While the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits
was unexpectedly unchanged at a five-month high last week,
suggesting some labor market softening, U.S. home sales
increased more than expected in October and house prices rose at
the fastest pace in more than two years amid lower mortgage
rates and a supply shortage. Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital
Management in Chicago, said there was not enough surprise in the
data to generate a decisive market move.
"This is a market in search of a catalyst," he said.
Three of the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors rose, with
energy .SPNY showing the biggest gain at 1.6% as oil prices
gained on hopes that OPEC and its allies were likely to extend
output cuts until mid-2020. Real estate .SPLRCR showed the biggest decline at 1.4%,
while technology .SPLRCT was the biggest drag on the benchmark
index with a 0.5% drop.
Shares in TD Ameritrade Holding Corp AMTD.O surged 16.9%
after CNBC reported bigger rival Charles Schwab Corp SCHW.N
was in talks to buy the discount brokerage. Schwab's shares
gained 7.3%. Rival E*Trade Financial lost 9.3%. Tiffany & Co TIF.N gained about 2.6% after a Reuters
report that LVMH LVMH.PA persuaded the jewelry chain to allow
it to access its books following a raised bid. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.55-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.37-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 52 new highs and 88 new lows.
On U.S. exchanges, 6.83 billion shares changed hands,
compared with the 7.05 billion average for the last 20 sessions.