Investing.com - The Dow ended its three-day winning streak Thursday as downbeat economic data raised concerns about the strength of the U.S. economy, while U.S.-China trade talks remained in the spotlight.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.40%, the S&P 500 lost 0.35%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.39%.
Fresh signs the U.S. economy may not be as robust as many believe prompted traders to rein in their bullish bets as they digested a slew of economic reports, some of which sank to multi-year lows.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's business index fell to its lowest level since May 2016 and the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators fell for the second month in a row in January, the first time that's happened since early 2016.
There wasn’t much to cheer on the housing front, meanwhile, as existing home sales slumped to their lowest levels since Nov. 15.
The negative reports overshadowed optimism on trade, with China and the U.S. reportedly working toward drafting a memorandum of understanding to tackle structural issues, including forced technology transfers, cybertheft, market access and currency.
The high-level trade talks come just a week before the March 1 deadline when, in the absence of a deal, the U.S. could impose higher tariffs on Chinese imports. But President Donald Trump fueled speculation the deadline could be extended, saying earlier this week that March 1 was not a "magical date."
The U.S. has slapped tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, about half the value of U.S. imports from the country. China has retaliated with tariffs on $110 billion worth of American exports.
In healthcare, CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) continued to add to losses from a day earlier, when the drugstore and healthcare company reported fourth-quarter revenue that missed expectations and guided earnings short of estimates.
Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB), meanwhile, fell 4% after Stifel downgraded the stock to hold from buy and cut its price target to $346 from $397, citing "decreased confidence in Alzheimer's, a looming Tecfidera legal saga and well-documented competitive threats to Spinraza."
On the earnings front, Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) fell 9.15% after reporting quarterly results that missed estimates provided by Investing.com. But The Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) rallied 5% as its fourth-quarter earnings and revenue miss was overshadowed by above-consensus comparable store sales growth of 1.9%.
In other corporate news, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 3.7% after Consumer Reports pulled its recommendation for the company's Model 3, citing concerns over reliability.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
Albemarle (NYSE:ALB), Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) and Norwegian Cruise Lines (NYSE:NCLH) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
TechnipFMC (NYSE:FTI), Concho Resources (NYSE:CXO) and Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.