Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell mildly on Thursday erasing some of their gains from Wednesday's surge, following the release of soft GDP for the third quarter data earlier in the session.
After rallying late in Wednesday's session following hawkish comments by the Federal Reserve on a potential December interest rate hike, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ Composite index inched down on Thursday. The Dow lost 23.72 or 0.13% to 17,755.80 in Thursday's session, one day after surging more than 200 points. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, dipped 21.42 or 0.42% to close at 5,074.27. The major indices are still on pace for a record month with one trading day left in October.
On the S&P 500 Composite index, seven of 10 sectors closed in the red, as it lost 0.94 or 0.04% to end the session at 2,089.41. Stocks in the Technology and the Utilities sectors lagged, each falling by more than 0.5% on the session. Stocks in the Consumer Services, Health Care and Energy industries led.
The top performer on the Dow was Apple Inc (O:AAPL), which gained 1.26 or 1.06% to 120.53. Investors continue to digest strong quarterly earning by the world's largest company earlier this week when Apple (O:AAPL) recorded record fourth-quarter iPhone sales. The worst performer was INTC, which lost nearly 2% to 34.03.
Intel (O:INTC) finished just below Pfizer Inc (N:PFE), which fell 1.92% to 34.77. Earlier, shares in Pfizer and Allergan (N:AGN_pa) were halted after both companies confirmed they are engaged in preliminary talks. The acquisition could create one of the largest pharmaceutical companies on record. Allergan shares surged nearly 6% to 304.38.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (O:VRTX), which gained more than 5% to 126.17. Vertex Pharmaceuticals (O:VRTX) finished just above Charter Communications Inc (O:CHTR), after the cable operator reported robust net earnings last quarter. Charter and Time Warner expect to complete a long-awaited merger in the first quarter of 2016. The worst performer was NXP Semiconductors after it lowered its revenue outlook for the final quarter of the year. NXP Semiconductors, the top chip supplier for Apple iPhone 6 products, plunged 17.92 or 19.71% to 73.00.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was Hanesbrands Inc (N:HBI), which soared 3.96 or 14.35% to 31.56 after posting double-digit revenue growth during the company's third quarter. The worst performer was F5 Networks Inc (O:FFIV), after the application delivery networking technology company reported worse than expected earnings on the quarter. Shares in F5 Networks (O:FFIV) plummeted 11.09 or 14.35% to 31.56.
On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 1,919 to 1,166 margin.