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US stocks fall, ending 7-day S&P streak

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US stocks have fallen, with uninspired trade putting a halt to the S&P 500’s streak of seven straight gains.

At the close on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 25.96 points (0.17 per cent) at 15,300.64.

The broad-market S&P 500 slipped 5.71 (0.34 per cent) to 1,683.42, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 9.04 (0.24 per cent) to 3,715.97.

Dell shares were flat at $13.85 after shareholders voted in favour of founder Michael Dell’s $25 billion plan to take the company private, after seven months battling investors including Carl Icahn, who demanded a better deal.

Under the terms of the deal, Dell shareholders will receive $13.75 per share in cash plus a special dividend of 13 cents per share.

Shares in Walt Disney Co. jumped 2.4 per cent after chief financial officer Jay Rasulo said that the entertainment giant plans a huge share buyback in 2014 that could amount to as much as $8 billion.

“We’ve been buying at the pace of $4 billion for the last couple of years. And we really see the opportunity, given where our share price is, given where capital markets are, to target at least $6 and possibly up to $8 billion in buybacks” next year, he told analysts at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference

Women’s sport apparel chain Lululemon Athletica dropped 5.4 per cent after being the latest in fashion houses to deliver a report of sinking earnings and give a warning over earnings for the rest of the year.

Likewise, Men’s Wearhouse sank 12.1 per cent on its poor fiscal second quarter – with earnings falling 28 per cent – and a reduced full-year forecast.

Pandora Media, the popular online music streamer, jumped 12.1 per cent after naming former Microsoft executive Brian McAndrews as its new chief executive and president, as well as board chairman.

Apple shares bounced back slightly, gaining 1.1 per cent after Wednesday’s 5.4 per cent beating on disappointment with its launch of two iPhone models.

Among Dow components, Verizon gained 1.8 per cent and rival AT&T 1.2 per cent, while JPMorgan Chase fell 1.9 per cent and Hewlett-Packard, to be dropped from the index later this month, sank 1.4 per cent.

Bond prices were flat. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 2.91 per cent and the 30-year remained at 3.85 per cent. Prices and yields move inversely.