U. S. stocks are little changed Thursday morning as the market’s recent rally loses steam. Health care and communications companies are edging upward while banks and technology companies are slipping.
NEW YORK — U. S. stocks are little changed Thursday morning as the market’s recent rally loses steam. Health care and communications companies are edging upward while banks and technology companies are slipping. Morgan Stanley dropped after its fourth-quarter results fell short of Wall Street’s expectations while railroad operator CSX fell after forecasting weaker revenue growth in 2019.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index stayed at 2,615 as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 37 points, or 0.2 percent, to 24,170. The Nasdaq composite gained 5 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,040. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 3 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,458.
BANKS CLANK: Morgan Stanley skidded 6.1 percent to $41.79 after its earnings and revenue disappointed analysts. Like a number of other big financial companies, Morgan Stanley was hurt by difficulties in trading during the volatile fourth quarter. While Morgan Stanley’s traders are considered some of the best in the business, their stock trading revenue was flat over the last three months of the year and bond trading revenue tumbled 30 percent.
