S&P 500 struggles for direction as trade truce rally fades, UnitedHealth tumbles
NEW YORK (May 15) The S&P 500 teetered between gains and losses in a choppy session on Thursday as elation from the U.S.-China tariff truce tapered off, with UnitedHealth among the biggest losers after a report said the DoJ was investigating the insurer for fraud.
UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N), plunged 15% to a five-year low, dragging on other health insurers such as Humana (HUM.N), and Molina Healthcare (MOH.N), opens new tab.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Justice was conducting a criminal investigation into the company for possible Medicare fraud. However, UnitedHealth said it had not been informed of a criminal probe by federal prosecutors.
"This is basically the third almost-catastrophic event for the stock in the last three weeks. Now you've got this just adding fuel to the fire," said John Belton, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds.
Executives at retail giant Walmart (WMT.N), said the company would have to start raising prices later this month due to the high cost of tariffs, even as its first-quarter U.S. comparable sales beat expectations. Its shares fell 1.1% after it also did not provide a second-quarter profit forecast.
Walmart joins a spate of companies across sectors that have either tweaked or pulled their forecasts, signaling that corporate America is hunkering down for tariff-related uncertainties.
On the brighter side, Cisco Systems (CSCO.O), jumped 6.3% after the networking-equipment maker raised its annual forecasts and named Mark Patterson its new CFO.
At 11:28 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), rose 86.57 points, or 0.20%, to 42,136.78, the S&P 500 (.SPX), gained 5.75 points, or 0.10%, to 5,898.33, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), lost 48.77 points, or 0.25%, to 19,098.04.
Megacap and growth stocks were marginally lower after falling earlier in the day, although Amazon.com (AMZN.O), lagged with a 3% decline.
The energy sector (.SPNY), was among the laggards as oil prices slid around 3% on expectations of a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal that could result in sanctions easing.
Stocks have see-sawed this week as equities jumped on Monday and Tuesday after the U.S. and China announced a temporary ceasefire on tariffs.
The gains were enough to drag the S&P (.SPX), out of the red for the year, although it is still about 4% shy of record highs.
Earlier in the day, fresh data showed U.S. retail sales growth slowed in April, while a separate report showed producer prices unexpectedly fell last month.
The data dump follows a relatively tame consumer price reading earlier in the week.
"Despite the de-escalation with China, the trade story isn't over and it's still going to take time for tariffs to make themselves felt in economic data," said Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said central bank officials felt they needed to reconsider the key elements around jobs as well as inflation in their current monetary policy approach.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.36-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.09-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted nine new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 34 new highs and 101 new lows.
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