Stocks began the session mixed but turned lower a short time after the open. The GDP report was slightly below expectations, but still points to robust U.S. growth compared to some other parts of the global economy. NY Fed President John Williams gave the market a lift when he said the Fed is listening very carefully to the markets, adding that the FOMC statement should not be seen as a promise to raise rates again. The dovish comments led to a surge in all three of the major averages, though they have all pared their gains. The Nasdaq is currently down roughly 1%, while Nike (NKE) is helping, for now, to keep the Dow in positive territory.

ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S.:

• the estimate of third quarter GDP growth was nudged down to 3.4% in the third look on the economy, versus the 3.5% clip the advance and second readings
• Durable goods orders bounced 0.8% in November, which was weaker than expected 
• Personal income rose 0.2%, while spending increased 0.4% in November 
• Consumer confidence rose 0.8 points to 98.3 in the final December reading from the University of Michigan survey, which was up from the prior month's reading and the 97.5 preliminary look for this month 

In central bank news, John Williams, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, stressed during an interview on CNBC that data dependence also means listening to the markets. The Fed is open to reassessing and reevaluating its forecasts as data indicate, Williams said, adding that the Fed indicated in its June 2017 statement that it would reconsider the balance sheet normalization path if the outlook changed materially.

COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Nike have risen 7%, giving a boost to the Dow, after the sneaker making giant reported better than expected sales and earnings and raised its constant currency sales and gross margin guidance for the fiscal year. Pivotal Research analyst Mitch Kummetz, who upgraded Nike to Buy this morning, contends that that companies taking share in the athletic space tend to have stocks that outperform and he believes Nike has a pipeline that should enable it to continue to take share over the balance of fiscal 2019 and into fiscal 2020.

While a number of analysts came out positively on Nike's quarterly report, several others on Wall Street had cautious comments this morning regarding yesterday's news that Altria (MO) invested $12.8B for a 35% stake in e-cigarette maker JUUL Labs. Chief among them was Citi analyst Adam Spielman, who downgraded Altria to Sell and cut his price target for the shares to $45 from $67, stating that he suspects the JUUL deal "is destroying value" and effectively signals the company is doubtful about the future of its core cigarette business.

Perrigo (PRGO) shares are down 25% after the company said last night that its subsidiary Perrigo Pharma will file an appeal with the Irish Tax Appeals Commission regarding a notice that it is being assessed an Irish corporation tax liability of EUR1.6B. Perrigo "strongly disagrees with this assessment" and said that no payment of any amount related to this assessment is "required to be made, if at all," until proceedings, which could take a number of years, have been completed.

MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was NetEase (NTES), which rose 3% in New York after the South China Morning Post reported that China is ending its video game regulatory freeze and resuming approvals. Also higher was Zynga (ZNGA), which gained 3% after it entered into an agreement to acquire Small Giant Games and raised its fourth quarter 2018 guidance.

Among the notable losers was Editas Medicine (EDIT), which slid 13% after it said that CFO Andrew Hack will be stepping down from the company. Also lower was CalAmp (CAMP), which fell 7% after reporting quarterly results.

INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 25.10, or 0.11%, to 22,884.70, the Nasdaq was down 68.47, or 1.05%, to 6,459.94, and the S&P 500 was down 2.88, or 0.12%, to 2,464.54.