WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved mostly higher early in the session but gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session before eventually ending the day mixed.
While tech-heavy Nasdaq added to Wednesday's strong gain, climbing 73.27 points or 0.4 percent to 21,242.70, the S&P 500 edged down 5.06 points or 0.1 percent to 6,340.00 and the Dow fell 224.48 points or 0.5 percent to 43,968.64.
The early strength on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump announced a 100 percent tariff on imports of semiconductors and chips but said companies that are 'building in the United States' would be exempt.
'The good news for companies like Apple is if you're building in the United States or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge,' Trump said.
'So in other words, we'll be putting a tariff on of approximately 100 percent on chips and semiconductors,' he added. 'But if you're building in the United States of America, there's no charge.'
The announcement of the tariff on semiconductors and chips came as Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook joined Trump to confirm the company plans to invest another $100 billion in the U.S.
After helping to lead the markets higher on reports of the investment on Wednesday, shares of Apple jumped by another 3.2 percent.
Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders continue to express concerns about the economic impact of Trump's trade policies as new tariffs on dozens of countries take effect today.
A steep drop by shares of Intel (INTC) also weighed on the markets, with the semiconductor giant tumbling by 3.0 percent after Trump called on CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign immediately, calling him 'highly conflicted.'
In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended August 2nd.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 226,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level of 219,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 221,000 from the 218,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A separate report released by the Labor Department this morning showed a significant rebound by labor productivity in the second quarter.
Sector News
While most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, pharmaceutical stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index down by 2.1 percent to its lowest closing level in nearly three months.
Eli Lilly (LLY) led the sector lower, plunging by 14.1 percent despite reporting better than expected second quarter results and raising its full-year guidance. Results from a late-stage trial of the company's obesity pill seemingly disappointed investors.
Oil service stocks also saw considerable weakness amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index falling by 1.4 percent.
Software and transportation stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, while semiconductor, utilities and computer hardware stocks turned in strong performances.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index crept up by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index shot up by 1.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved to the downside over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 2.4 basis points to 4.244 percent.
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