· The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 28.97 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 21,611.78, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.38 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,473.45 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 4.96 points, or 0.08 percent, to 6,390.00.
Stocks ended little changed on Wall Street on Thursday as a deal between Sears and Amazon weighed on home improvement retailers while gains in Microsoft helped buoy the Nasdaq.
· Retailers and appliance makers fell after Sears (SHLD.O) said it would sell its Kenmore home appliances on Amazon (AMZN.O).
Sears was up 10.6 percent at $9.60 and Amazon shares rose 0.2 percent.
Home Depot (HD.N) fell 4.1 percent, shaving off 40 points from the Dow and weighing the most on the S&P 500.Retailers Lowes (LOW.N).
· Asia markets were subdued in early Friday trade amid greater political uncertainty stateside and as the euro rose to two-year highs on Thursday comments from the chief of the European Central Bank.
The Nikkei 225 slid 0.18 percent and South Korea's benchmark Kospi edged down 0.12 percent in early trade.
· Meanwhile, more political headlines out of the U.S. overnight put pressure on the dollar. Special Counsel Robert Mueller was looking into transactions involving President Donald Trump and people linked to him, Bloomberg reported.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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