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US stocks finished flat on Thursday as a drop in energy shares offset a rebound in retail sales and stronger-than-expected Cisco results.
The S&P energy index dropped 1.4 per cent, leading the decline in the S&P 500, as US crude oil prices slid to a 6-1/2-year low.
The S&P consumer discretionary index rose 0.6 per cent, the most among the major 10 S&P sectors, but it had been higher earlier.
US retail sales rose in July, while the trend of weekly jobless claims pointed to a tightening job market. The data supported the view the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as early as next month, offsetting speculation in the previous two sessions that the Fed could wait until December to raise rates after China devalued its currency.
Yuan devalulation
Jitters over China remained. Sources had told Reuters this week that some powerful voices in the government were pushing for an even deeper yuan devaluation to help China's struggling exporters.
"The market is still adjusting to the Chinese devaluation. Obviously, that's created a lot of uncertainty, and people are not sure how this is going to play out," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Cisco jumped 2.9 per cent to $28.70, giving the biggest boost to the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 5.74 points or 0.03 per cent, to 17,408.25; the S&P 500 lost 2.66 points or 0.13 per cent to 2,083.39; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.83 points or 0.21 per cent to 5,033.56.
The S&P financial index rose 0.3 per cent, after falling in the previous two sessions.
In corporate news, retailers posted mixed quarterly results.
Kohl's fell 8.8 per cent to $56.11 after its same-store sales missed expectations. After the bell, shares of Nordstrom's rose 5.7 per cent following its results.
During the regular session, News Corp rose 7.6 per cent to $15.19 after the Wall Street Journal owner's profit topped estimates, helped by cost cuts at its news business, including Dow Jones.
Also, shares of Shake Shack Inc dropped 15.9 per cent to $54.49 in its biggest one-day percentage decline since its debut, after the company said it had priced a 4 million-share offering at $60 per share, well below a $64.79 closing price on Wednesday.
Tesla rose 1.8 per cent to $242.51 after unveiling plans to raise about $500 million through a share sale, with Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk buying shares worth up to $20 million.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,821 to 1,204, for a 1.51-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,575 issues fell and 1,237 advanced for a 1.27-to-1 ratio favouring decliners.
The benchmark S&P 500 index posted 25 new 52-week highs and nine new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 51 new highs and 76 new lows.
About 6.2 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, compared with the 7.1 billion daily average for the month to date, according to data from BATS Global Markets
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