Investing.com - Wall Street showed mixed trade on Thursday as investors took a pause as they continued to digest the framework for U.S. tax reform.
At 12:06PM ET (16:06GMT), the Dow Jones rose 35 points, or 0.16%, the S&P 500 inched up 1 point, or 0.06%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 10 points, or 0.16%.
U.S. President Donald Trump's long-awaited tax reform plan supported gains a day earlier as the framework proposed bringing the corporate tax rate to 20% from 35% as expected.
Concerns for its future were raised over the uphill battle in Congress, with the Republican Party divided over it and Democrats hostile, and some observers considered to the framework to be lacking in detail.
“Without sufficient details on how or even if these tax cuts will be fully paid for, this outline is nothing more than a fiscal fantasy,” the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget noted.
ING economists noted that “the release hasn’t added to what we already knew.”
“What was meant to be a ‘very comprehensive report’ was thin on the key details that U.S. markets crave to make any meaningful assessment of the likelihood of a Trump tax plan being successfully signed into law and its overall economic impact,” they explained.
In economic releases on Thursday, U.S. second-quarter economic growth was unexpectedly revised upwards to 3.1%, although markets showed little reaction to the report.
On the downside, weekly jobless claims rose slightly more than expected, with a reading of 272,000, topping the forecast for 270,000.
On the central bank front, Federal Reserve policymakers gave no surprises.
Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren once again argued late Wednesday for a “regular and gradual” increase in interest rates.
Kansas City Fed President Esther George commented that the second quarter growth data was a good rebound from the weaker reading seen in the first three months of the year and also agreed with the Fed outlook that it was appropriate to move forward with gradual rate hikes.
Outgoing Fed vice chair Stanley Fischer mostly steered clear of comments on monetary policy, focusing instead on central bank independence at a conference held by the Bank of England. However, the number 2 at the U.S. central bank did comment that it was important to reduce the size of the Fed's balance sheet as the measures were temporary.
Fed fund futures priced the odds of a rate hike in December at around 73%, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
In earnings news, Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD) tumbled more than 11% after the pharmacy chain reported worse-than-expected sales.
On the upside, Blackberry (TO:BB) soared more than 12% on record software sales. The Canadian firm, that last year stopped producing its iconic smartphone, raised its revenue forecast.
McCormick (NYSE:MKC) saw shares jump 5% after the spice maker raised its full-year earnings forecast.
Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL) registered gains of around 4% after the electronics manufacturer reported numbers that beat on both the top and bottom line.
In big moves on other company news, shares of Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU), a Fox-backed video streaming firm, skyrocketed more than 50% in their market debut on Thursday
AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) jumped around 6% as the it announced an agreement to end litigation with Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN).
Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) saw shares pop more than 3% after receiving FDA approval of its glucose monitoring device.