Dow and S&P Hit Record Highs, Nasdaq Stumbled

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Thursday, with the Dow industrials and S&P 500 staring down records, but Nasdaq Composite logged its first back-to-back decline of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 34.72 points, or 0.17%, to 20,810.32. The S&P 500 gained 0.99 points, or 0.04%, to 2,363.81. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 25.12 points, or 0.43%, to 5,835.51.

The oil futures contract on Thursday posted its highest close since July 2015, boosted by a smaller-than-expected rise in crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 86 cents, or 1.6%, to end at $54.45 a barrel. Brent crude rose 74 cents, or 1.3%, to end at $56.58 a barrel.

Herbalife Inc. (HLF) reported its fourth-quarter earnings rose to $99.4 million, or $1.16 a share, from $84.5 million, or 98 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company would have earned $1 a share. Revenue fell to $1.05 billion from $1.1 billion.

Gildan Activewear Inc. ended fiscal 2016 on a solid profit note, reporting Thursday that fourth-quarter net income rose 9.9 percent to $74.3 million. Gildan reported diluted earnings were 32 cents a share. Sales were $587.9 million, up 8.1 percent in the quarter.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter 2016 results on considerably low operating expenses and increased price realizations for oil and natural gas. Total revenue decreased to $2,021 million from $2,649 million a year ago.