US stocks end mixed as House pulls health-care bill

U.S. stocks closed mixed Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average logging a seven-day losing streak, amid news that the House pulled a key health-care bill ahead of a vote.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 59.86 points, or 0.29 percent, to 20,596.72. The S&P 500 lost 1.98 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,343.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 11.04 points, or 0.19 percent, to 5,828.74.

House Republicans pulled their health-care bill on Friday as they failed to corral enough support for it, throwing the future of one of their top legislative priorities into serious doubt, according to media reports.

The House vote is crucial for U.S. President Donald Trump's agenda. Trump has said the repeal and replacement of Obamacare must happen before action can be taken on his other plans, including a major tax reduction.

Analysts said there appear to be growing concerns that Trump's tax reform, infrastructure spending and deregulation may take longer to pass than initially thought.

On the economic front, U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in February increased 3.9 billion U.S. dollars or 1.7 percent to 235.4 billion dollars, beating market estimates, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

"Orders ex-transportation rose for the sixth straight month, a sign capital goods industry production is back after a downturn last year," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Meanwhile, adjusted for seasonal influences, the Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing PMI decreased from 54.2 in February to 53.4 in March, hitting a 5-month low.

In a weekly basis, all three major indices suffered big losses, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq tumbling 1.5 percent, 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. 

source: Xinhua