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Dow, S&P 500 Battle To Positive Close; Apple, United Take Hard Hits

Stocks fought to a mixed finish Thursday after a global sell-off and a rash of sour company news and earnings reports sent the major U.S. indexes lower early in the session.

X The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average each added less than 0.1% after erasing earlier losses. The Nasdaq composite ended well off its lows, but still down nearly 0.3% in its worst decline since Sept. 25.

Markets came under pressure early, after a sell-off in Hong Kong rippled through to European markets, which then felt additional pressure as Spain moved to suspend the governmental autonomy of its Catalonia region, which has voted to secede.

But the selling quickly took on a character of its own after the open of U.S. markets, as Apple (AAPL) dived 2.4% to lead the losses among Dow industrials, United Continental Holdings (UAL) imploded 12% after an awkward conference call, the worst loss among S&P 500 names.

Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH) and Ctrip.com International (CTRP) dropped 6% and 8%, respectively, to the bottom of the Nasdaq 100, which also groaned under the strain of Apple and Tesla (TSLA) each falling more than 2%.

Despite the losses, there was plenty of good news on the day.

On the Dow, both General Electric (GE) and Travelers (TRV) took gains of 2% and 2.4%, respectively. Travelers posted much-better-than-expected Q3 earnings, turning up from early declines to charge past a 130.47 buy point in healthy trade.

IPO MongoDB (MDB) blasted 34% higher in its first public session. China-based Qudian (QD) locked up a 20% advance, putting it 44% above its IPO price on its second day of trading.

Homebuilder NVR (NVR) punched out an 8% gain in massive trade to seize another new high. The homebuilder reported a 34% rise in earnings.

Blackstone Group (BX) jumped 2% in powerful trade, after reporting strong third-quarter results. The move cleared a 33.93 buy point in a cup-with-handle base, and left the stock within buy range.

Adobe Systems (ADBE) spiked 12%, thrashing a 157.99 buy point in a flat base. The digital media and marketing software leader released updated revenue and earnings guidance for 2018, with both numbers well above analyst expectations.

IBD 50 stock Winnebago (WGO) erased early losses and rose more than 3% in heavy volume. That left shares just below a new high, and extended 23% above a flat-base buy point.

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