Wall Street stocks ended mixed Thursday, with gains in Cisco Systems following an upbeat forecast, while UnitedHealth tumbled after a report of a criminal investigation into the insurer.
The S&P 500 this week has further recovered from a deep selloff in April triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's global trade war, as investors bet Washington will reach deals to roll back steep tariffs that economists worry will drive up consumer prices.
"People think there are going to be deals, so they are just getting ahead of that, and they don't want to be short stocks. 'Deal anticipation' is what I'd call it," said Dennis Dick, a trader at Triple D Trading.
Cisco Systems jumped after the networking company raised its annual forecast, driven by the artificial intelligence boom.
UnitedHealth Group plunged to a five-year low after the Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. Department of Justice was conducting a criminal investigation into the company for possible Medicare fraud. UnitedHealth said it had not been informed of a criminal probe by federal prosecutors.
Rival health insurers Humana and Molina Healthcare also declined.
Walmart eased after the heavyweight retailer warned it would start raising prices later this month due to tariffs, even after its first-quarter U.S. comparable sales beat expectations.
Rival retailer Amazon dropped and weighed on the Nasdaq.
Walmart declined to provide a second-quarter profit outlook, joining other companies across sectors that have tweaked or pulled their forecasts, signaling that corporate America is hunkering down due to tariff-related uncertainty.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 21.89 points, or 0.37%, to end at 5,917.59 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 35.47 points, or 0.19%, to 19,111.34. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 277.87 points, or 0.66%, to 42,328.93.
The S&P 500 remains about 4% below its record high close on February 19.
Earlier in the day, data showed U.S. retail sales growth slowed in April, while a separate report showed producer prices unexpectedly fell last month. That followed a relatively tame consumer price reading earlier in the week.
"We're still waiting for that inflation pop. It's not here yet, but we're still waiting," said John Augustine, chief investment officer of Huntington National Bank.