New York, (IANS) US stocks pared early losses to trade mixed as investors assessed the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) decision to maintain its monetary policy amid US economic data.
By Thursday noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 29.79 points, or 0.17 percent, to 18,011.76, Xinhua news agency reported.
The S&P 500 rose 2.42 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,097.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 21.79 points, or 0.45 percent, to 4,884.93.
The BOJ on Thursday decided to keep its current monetary policy despite market expectations of additional easing, while again putting off the target date of achieving its 2 percent inflation goal.
On the US economic front, the US real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2016, worse than traders’ estimates, according to the “advance” estimate released by the Commerce Department Thursday.
Meanwhile, in the week ending April 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 257,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the Labor Department said on Thursday.