Investing.com - U.S. shares traded mixed on Thursday heading for a close with the Dow above 20,000 and in the green, but other indices flat to lower as momentum slows though company steps and earnings generally have helped sentiment.
The Dow Jones gained 0.18%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.06%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.01%.
Royal Caribbean Cruises rose nearly 9% on Thursday on earnings prospects for 2017 and Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) jumped 6.54% on a report Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) wanted to buy the company. Shares in eBay gained over 5% after the e-commerce company reported solid earnings from its holiday quarter, but Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) fell as mores than 5% as the chip maker reported a weak second-quarter outlook amid faces legal and regulatory challenges over its patent regime. Ford Motor (NYSE:F) fell 3.1% after reporting a loss of $800 million in the fourth quarter.
In data, the U.S. Commerce Department said new home sales sank by 10.4% to 536,000 units last month, compared to expectations for a 1.0% drop to 588,000 units and the Department of Labor said that initial jobless claims increased by 22,000 in the week ending January 21 to 259,000 from the previous week’s total of 237,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 13,000 last week.
Investors remained cautious after Trump on Wednesday ordered construction of a U.S.-Mexican border wall and punishment for cities shielding illegal immigrants. In addition, Trump was expected to sign an executive order in the coming days to block the entry of refugees from Syria and suspend the entry of any immigrants from Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and African countries.
As well, concerns that President Donald Trump's trade policies may unsettle long-standing supply chains and business models has led to some caution among investors, but the prospects of tax cuts and higher federal spending has raised hopes for a renewed rally in shares in the coming weeks and months.