Most U.S. stock benchmarks closed lower Thursday, but well off the day’s worst levels, with the blue-chip Dow shedding as many as 785 points at its lows.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.15% was down 0.2% to around 2,696, based on preliminary numbers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.32% ended lower by 79 points, or 0.3%, to 24,948.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.42% finished higher by 0.4% to 7,188. Equities came under pressure throughout the session after a senior executive of Huawei Technologies, a Chinese telecoms group, was detained for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Late in the session, reports suggested senior Federal Reserve officials wanted to adopt a wait-and-see attitude after December’s Fed meeting.
In company news, shares of Sears Holdings Corp. SHLDQ, +3.85% gained more than 3% after Eddie Lampert’s investment fund offered to buy what was left of the retailer for $4.6 billion.