The main US stock indexes mostly fell, as investors were wary of the results of trade negotiations between the US and China. Pressure on the market also provided frustrating profit reports and mixed statistics for the US.

The Ministry of Labor reported that the number of Americans who submitted new applications for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, but remained at a historically low level. Initial applications for unemployment benefits, an indicator of layoffs across the United States, increased by 2000 people to 211,000, seasonally adjusted for the week ended April 28. Economists were expecting 225,000 new applications last week. 209,000 calls for the previous week were the lowest since December 6, 1969, when the population and labor force in the US were much less than today.

At the same time, in March, the US trade deficit fell by 15%, to the lowest level in six months, but the decline is most likely temporary. The US is on track to achieve another major trade gap in 2018, which will exceed the deficit received in the previous year. The deficit fell to $ 49 billion in March from $ 57.7 billion in February, the Commerce Ministry reported. Economists predicted a deficit of $ 50 billion.

The data also showed that the index of business activity in the US services sector, calculated by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), deteriorated in April to 56.8 points from 58.8 points in March. Analysts predicted that the figure will drop only to 58.1 points. The ISM said that the expansion of activity in the service sector has been fixed for the 100th month in a row.

In addition, the survey results Markit testified to the growth of business activity in the US services sector. However, although growth rates accelerated, they remained below the long-term average. The seasonally adjusted final service PMI from IHS Markit rose to 54.6 in April from 54.0 in March. The last value of the index was the highest for three months and indicates a strong expansion of business activity in the services sector.

Most DOW components recorded a decrease (20 out of 30). The leader of growth was the shares of The Boeing Company (BA, + 2.35%). Outsider were the shares of NIKE, Inc. (NKE, -1.85%).

Almost all sectors of S & P finished trading in the red. The largest decline was observed in the conglomerate sector (-0.9%). Only the sector of industrial goods grew (+ 0.2%)

At closing:

Dow 23,930.15 +5.17 +0.02%

S&P 500 2,629.73 -5.94 -0.23%

Nasdaq 100 7,088.15 -12.75 -0.18%

U.S. stock-index futures fell on Thursday, as investors focused on the U.S.-China trade talks, while the latest set of corporate earnings added little optimism.

Global Stocks:

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Cisco Systems (CSCO) initiated with an Overweight at JP Morgan

Caterpillar (CAT) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill; target $156

Deere (DE) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill; target $159

3M (MMM) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Mkts; target $238

DowDuPont (DWDP) reported Q1 FY 2018 earnings of $1.12 per share, beating analysts' consensus estimate of $1.09.

The company's quarterly revenues amounted to $21.510 bln (+62.6% y/y), generally in-line with analysts' consensus estimate of $21.308 bln.

DWDP rose to $63.70 (+0.33%) in pre-market trading.

Tesla (TSLA) reported Q1 FY 2018 net losses of $3.35 per share (versus -$1.33 in Q1 FY 2017), better than analysts' consensus estimate of -$3.53.

The company's quarterly revenues amounted to $3.409 bln (+26.4% y/y), beating analysts' consensus estimate of $3.300 bln.

TSLA fell to $286.80 (-4.77%) in pre-market trading.

American Intl (AIG) reported Q1 FY 2018 earnings of $1.04 per share (versus $1.36 in Q1 FY 2017), missing analysts' consensus estimate of $1.26.

AIG fell to $51.80 (-5.54%) in pre-market trading.