US close: Stocks snake sideways on low oil and tech fizz

US stocks slid sideways on Thursday as, in the absence of much major data to chew on, the market digested how best to play the Federal Reserve's apparently strong signals that a December rate hike is coming and oil's latest plunge.

After the closing bell, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer spoke in San Francisco, baffling his audience slightly by saying that while the central bank has "done everything it can not to surprise markets", the Federal Open Markets Committee has still taken no final decision on liftoff timing.

And this is despite keenness from all round the world for the Fed to just get on with it and rip off the sticking plaster, with Fisher admitting "several emerging market (and other) central bankers have, for some time, been telling the Fed to 'just do it'."

Just prior to Fischer taking the lectern, the Dow Jones finished 0.02% lower at 17,732.75 after hitting a new week's high mid-session.

Led by a flotilla of sinking energy companies on the back of another oil price retreat, the S&P 500 was dragged down 0.11% to 2,081.24 points. West Texas Intermediate fell 0.6% to $40.49 a barrel, while Brent rose 0.3% to $44.29.

However, the Nasdaq 100 was marginally higher, up 0.04% at 4,655.35 as Intel's bullishness on growth infused into the wider tech sector.

The dollar was on the back foot against the main currencies, sliding 0.29% and 0.19% against the yen and the euro respectively and losing 0.21% against the pound, while gold spot gained 1.10% to $1,082.48.

The days macroeconomic data included the weekly figures from the Labor Department showing new claims declined by 5,000 to 271,000 in the week to 14 November, in line with expectations.

The average of new claims over the last four weeks rose by 3,000 to seasonally adjusted 270,750, the highest level in eight weeks.

"We view US labor market strength as very much intact and expect another month of solid job gains to pave the way for the Fed to raise rates in December," said analysts at Barclays.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index rose from -4.5 in October to 1.9 in November, returning into positive territory for the first time in two months and surpassing forecast for a -0.8 reading.

Company news

Intel raised its quarterly dividend and its projections for revenue growth in 2016 to a mid-single-digit percentage, adding that it will boost capital spending to $10bn next year, far above its estimate of $7.3 billion in 2015.

Pfizer slid 1.47% after edging closer to seal a deal for drug maker Allergan, which fell 1.26%.

Mobile-payments startup Square made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange at $11.20 per share, $2.20 above its initial public offer price. But the mobile point-of-sale (POS) company headed up by Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey was priced at $9 after the closing bell on Wednesday.

Cloud computing solutions provider Salesforce.com and personal beverage system group Keurig Green Mountain surged 6.93% and 15.7% respectively after both posted better-than-expected quarterly results late on Wednesday.

Among the companies that reported before the opening bell, technology group Best Buy tumbled 6.77% after reporting a sharper-than-expected decline in quarterly sales and warning its revenue for the December quarter might fall.

UnitedHealth was the biggest faller on the Dow after it cut its earnings outlook for the full year, adding it expects "major losses" on its business through the Affordable Care Act's exchanges and could go as far withdrawing from the programme.

S&P 500 - Risers
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $47.88 +18.22%
J. M. Smucker Co. (SJM) $121.28 +6.97%
Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) $96.85 +4.71%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $80.64 +4.25%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $8.76 +4.16%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $71.08 +3.89%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.30 +3.44%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $29.21 +3.33%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $72.62 +2.95%
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $611.51 +2.95%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $5.40 -10.00%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $11.84 -8.15%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $30.40 -8.02%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $9.78 -7.21%
Anthem Inc (ANTM) $127.86 -6.88%
Aetna Inc. (AET) $99.89 -6.52%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $46.57 -6.05%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $110.63 -5.65%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $7.82 -5.55%
CIGNA Corp. (CI) $127.83 -5.41%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.30 +3.44%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $43.11 +1.96%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $118.78 +1.27%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $27.37 +0.92%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $45.76 +0.84%
American Express Co. (AXP) $72.74 +0.82%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $113.30 +0.68%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $136.74 +0.68%
Boeing Co. (BA) $149.24 +0.65%
3M Co. (MMM) $158.38 +0.63%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $110.63 -5.65%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $32.29 -3.06%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $90.83 -1.50%
General Electric Co. (GE) $30.27 -0.82%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $80.30 -0.54%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $70.02 -0.43%
Visa Inc. (V) $80.15 -0.39%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $60.70 -0.38%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $193.03 -0.33%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $102.49 -0.18%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $47.88 +18.22%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $71.08 +3.89%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.30 +3.44%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $72.62 +2.95%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $83.60 +2.66%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $62.39 +1.86%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $29.05 +1.72%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $15.87 +1.67%
Liberty Interactive Corporation QVC Group (QVCA) $26.43 +1.58%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $207.80 +1.50%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $103.11 -4.26%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $62.01 -3.47%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $78.00 -3.00%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $42.00 -2.89%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $130.08 -2.39%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $40.37 -2.35%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $82.83 -2.07%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $28.86 -2.00%
Liberty Media Corporation - Series C (LMCK) $39.39 -1.86%
Liberty Media Corporation - Class A (LMCA) $41.03 -1.80%