Major US stock indices mainly declined, having come under pressure due to the collapse of shares of Cisco Systems (CSCO).

CSCO shares fell 7.35% after the company said it expects its revenue in the current quarter to fall by 3-5% YoY to ~ $ 11.82-12.07 billion due to lower global costs for its routers and switches, Some of which are made in China.

In addition to Cisco, Walmart (WMT) also presented its reporting. The retailer reported exceeded expectations for quarterly earnings and comparable sales in the United States, and also increased its annual profit forecast. However, Walmart's revenue was slightly lower than Wall Street's average forecast. WMT shares fell 0.36%.

Uncertainty around the deal between the US and China also remained a deterrent to the market. China said Thursday that both sides are holding a “detailed” discussion of trade issues, and tariff cancellation is an important condition for a deal.

The market participants also focused on the speech of Fed Chairman Powell and several reports. Powell, he noted that the Fed does not see signs that trade problems affect the entire economy, but added that they exacerbated the recession in production this year. Nevertheless, according to him, the US economy is currently in much better shape than the economies of other countries and the Fed predicts that it will continue to grow moderately.

The Labor Department said US producer prices rose in October in the most in six months. According to the report, the producer price index rose 0.4% last month, which is the largest increase since April after falling 0.3% in September. Over the 12 months to October, the index rose 1.1%, the smallest increase since October 2016, after rising 1.4% in September. The annual inflation of manufacturers declined, as a significant increase in the last year fell out of the calculation. Economists had forecast that the index would rise by 0.3% in October and increase by 0.9% year on year.

Most DOW components recorded a decrease (18 out of 30). Outsiders were shares of Cisco Systems (CSCO; -7.35%). The biggest gainers were The Boeing Co. (BA; + 1.32%).

Most S&P sectors completed trading in the red. The conglomerate sector showed the largest decline (-1.9%). The services sector grew the most (+ 0.3%).

At the time of closing:

Dow 27,781.96 -1.63 -0.01%

S&P 500 3,096.64 +2.60 + 0.08%

Nasdaq 100 8,479.02  -3.08 -0.04%

U.S. stock-index futures traded lower on Thursday, as investors decided to take a pause in moving to new record highs amid persisting concerns about U.S.-China trade relations.

Global Stocks:

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

Apple (AAPL) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Maxim Group; target $190

Deere (DE) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill

AT&T (T) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC Securities; target $42

Verizon (VZ) downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC Securities; target $65

Uber (UBER) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Argus; target $35 

Cisco Systems (CSCO) reported Q1 FY 2020 earnings of $0.84 per share (versus $0.75 in Q1 FY 2019), beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.81.

The company’s quarterly revenues amounted to $13.159 bln (+0.7% y/y), generally in line with analysts’ consensus estimate of $13.090 bln.

The company also issued downside guidance for Q2 FY 2020, projecting EPS of $0.75-0.77 versus analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.79 and revenue of ~$11.82-12.07 bln (-3-5% y/y) versus analysts’ consensus estimate of $12.77 bln.

CSCO fell to $45.85 (-5.39%) in pre-market trading.

Walmart (WMT) reported Q3 FY 2020 earnings of $1.16 per share (versus $1.08 in Q3 FY 2019), beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.09.

The company’s quarterly revenues amounted to $126.981 bln (+2.5% y/y), generally in line with analysts’ consensus estimate of $128.085 bln.

The company also raised its FY 2020 earnings outlook, projecting adjusted EPS, including Flipkart, to be up slightly compared to its prior guidance of down slightly to up slightly. 

WMT rose to $124.90 (+3.24%) in pre-market trading.