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Stocks

Dow closes lower despite upbeat earnings

Adam Shell
USA TODAY

Stocks closed modestly lower Thursday despite upbeat earnings reports from companies in tech, automotive and health care.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 29.65 points, or 0.16%, to 18,169.68. The Dow has now gone 12 sessions without a closing change of 100 points or more, its quietest stretch since going 15 trading days in July and August without a triple-digit move.

The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index fell 6.39 points, 0.30%, to 2133.04, and the Nasdaq composite was off 0.65%, or 34.29 points, to 5215.97.

Third-quarter earnings reports were again the main market driver. Electric car maker Tesla Motors (TSLA) posted a surprise profit after last night's closing bell. And earlier today social media player Twitter (TWTR) topped profit and revenue forecasts, as did drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY).

Tesla shares, which were up abour 4%, closed 0.9% higher. Twitter was up 0.6%, and Bristol-Myers Squibb rallied nearly 5.4%.

Wall Street also reacted to a big deal in the tech space, where Qualcomm (QCOM) snapped up NXP Semiconductor (NXPI) in a deal totaling $39 billion. Qualcomm shares were up 2.8% on the news, and NXP rose 0.5%.

Stocks were also hit by another rise in U.S. government bond yields. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed as high as 1.87% -- its highest levels since late May -- before leveling out at 1.845%

In economic news, September orders for durable goods, or long-lasting big-ticket items like dishwashers and ovens, fell -0.1%, which was below the flat reading economists' forecast.

In addition, the latest reading on initial and continuing jobless claims show that they remain near multi-decade lows. The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits in the week ending Oct. 22 was 258,000, slightly higher than the consensus forecast of 256,000.

Stocks were lower in Asia overnight, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.3% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipping 0.8%. Stocks were virtually unchanged in Europe, where the broad Stoxx Europe 600 closed near the flatline.

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