U.S. stocks traded mostly lower in afternoon trading on Thursday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling nearly 200 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite struggled for direction, after a drop in a closely watched gauge of U.S. manufacturing activity. Stocks had opened mostly higher Thursday after the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure showed price pressures cooling somewhat in October, while reports suggested China is taking steps to relax its COVID restrictions to allow its economy to recover. Investors also awaited October jobs data on Friday that could determine the pace of the central bank’s interest-rate hikes.
How stock indexes are trading
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.23%
fell 197 points, or 0.6%, to 34,392.
The S&P 500
SPX,
+0.05%
shed 3 points, or less than 0.1%, at 4,076.
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+5.85%
gained 14 points, or 0.1%, to 11,483.
On Wednesday, the Dow rose 737 points, or 2.2%, the S&P 500 jumped 3.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 4.4%. The Dow rose 20.4% during October and November, the biggest two-month percentage gain since July 1938, according to Dow Jones Market Data.What’s driving markets Th …