Stocks Ended Little Changed amid Trade, Housing Sales Data

U.S. stocks ended little changed on Thursday, as investors digested headlines suggesting progress toward a U.S.-China trade deal has stalled and a reading on new-home sales dipped to a three-year low in January. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 7.05 points, or 0.03%, to 25,709.94. The S&P 500 was down 2.44 points, or 0.09%, to 2,808.48. The Nasdaq Composite fell 12.50 points, or 0.16%, to 7,630.91.

Oil futures split ways on Thursday, with U.S. prices up a fourth straight session and global prices ending lower. April West Texas Intermediate crude rose 35 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $58.61 a barrel. May Brent crude edged down by 32 cents, or 0.5%, to $67.23 a barrel.

New-home sales declined to a three-month low in January, falling 6.9% to a seasonally adjusted pace of 607,000, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. This fell short of consensus estimates for an annualized pace of 622,000, based on Bloomberg data.

New jobless claims rose slightly more-than-expected for the week ending March 9, with claims rising 229,000 for the week, or 4,000 ahead of expectations.

Import prices in the U.S. rose a greater-than-expected 0.6% month-over-month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday, above the 0.3% increase expected. Export prices rose 0.6% month-over-month in February, following an upwardly revised decrease of 0.5% in January.