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U.S. stocks trade mixed amid oil prices, earnings

Xinhua, October 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower on Thursday, as oil prices weighed on energy sector and investors also kept an eye on the third quarter earnings.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 15.92 points, or 0.09 percent, to 18,218.54. The S&P 500 was down 1.39 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,142.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 7.20 points, or 0.14 percent, to 5,239.21.

Oil prices dropped in the morning session on Thursday, with both U.S. oil and Brent crude sliding around 2 percent.

In corporate news, Shares of Verizon dipped 2.64 percent in the morning trading after the company delivered mixed quarterly results before Thursday's opening bell. Verizon posted quarterly earnings above estimates but revenues shy of forecast.

On the economic front, in the week ending Oct. 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 260,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level, announced the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

The 4-week moving average was 251,750, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average.

Overseas, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided Thursday neither to change its key interests for the euro area, nor to extend its monthly asset purchase program of 80 billion euros (about 88 billion U.S. dollars) beyond March 2017. Enditem