LONDON: U.S. stocks ended mostly unchanged as consumer discretionary and health-care shares battled losses in other sectors on the last full trading day of the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 1.2 points to 17813. The S&P 500 slipped fractionally and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%.
Stocks traded in a narrow range ahead of Thanksgiving Day with the Dow in its smallest band this year, at 53 points, and the S&P at its tightest since May. The U.S. stock market is closed Thursday and will close early on Friday.
Health-care stocks rose 0.5%. Shares of Pfizer Inc. climbed 2.8% to $32.87, adding six points to the Dow as investors continued to digest the announcement that Pfizer and Allergan PLC had hatched a deal to combine in a $155 billion merger.
Consumer-discretionary stocks showed modest gains, up 0.5% as higher employment rates continued to translate into lackluster consumer spending.
“The data is relatively mixed,” said Krishna Memani, chief investment officers at OppenheimerFunds. “I think people are happy that they have a job, but they are not happy enough or secure enough to go out and spend a lot.”
Initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 260,000 in the week ended Nov. 21, the Labor Department said, a healthy signal for the labor market. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected 270,000 new claims. The report was released a day earlier than normal due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Separately, consumer spending rose just slightly in October while Americans stepped up their savings. Spending inched up 0.1% in October from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said. Economists had expected a 0.3% increase in spending last month.
Dan Farley, regional investment strategist at U.S. Bank, which is overweight consumer discretionary stocks in relation to its benchmarks, said consumers may be spending less on retail but are spending more on “experiences,” such as travel and home improvement.
