Stocks had a mixed session, with the S&P and Nasdaq gaining and the Dow sliding amid another day of notable weakness for Boeing (BA). Meanwhile, in the U.K., Theresa May suffered another in a string of defeats in trying to get a Brexit agreement past her Parliament.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the Consumer Prices Index edged up 0.2% in February with the core rate rising 0.1%. On a 12-month basis, the headline CPI cooled to 1.5% year-over-year from 1.6%, with the core slipping to 2.1% year-over-year versus 2.2% previously.
In Europe, the U.K. Parliament rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's latest Brexit deal by a vote of 391-242.
In trade news, the Financial Times reported that White House trade chief Robert Lighthizer warned that negotiations to end the tariff war with China were at risk of failing, saying "major, major issues" needed to be resolved before any deal was reached, and that he could not "predict success at this point."
TOP NEWS: Shares of Boeing fell another 6.1% as the fallout continues from this weekend's crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing Model 737-8 airplane. Since that crash, the second for a 737 MAX model in less than six months, regulators in Australia, China, Europe and other countries around the world have all grounded the plane as a precautionary measure, though the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is not mandating any further action at this time and has issued a Continued Airworthiness Notification related to the Boeing 737-8 and 737-9. Meanwhile, CNN's Adam Levine reported that President Trump and Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg spoke by phone today following the president's tweet about how flying has become "too complicated."
In earnings news, shares of Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) dropped 11.2% after the sports equipment seller gave worse than expected profit guidance for the new fiscal year along with its report for the fourth quarter. Of note, CEO Ed Stack said on the company's earnings call that the company is expanding its program prohibiting the sale of guns and hunting equipment from 10 locations to over 125.
Meanwhile, Ned Sharpless, current director of the National Cancer Institute, was named the next commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Following the news, shares of tobacco companies Altria Group (MO) and Philip Morris (PM) moved lower.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Akebia (AKBA), which rose 10.35% after announcing two phase 3 active-controlled pivotal studies of vadadustat met their primary endpoints. Also higher were Stitch Fix (SFIX) and Momo (MOMO), which gained a respective 25.2% and 11.95% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was F5 Networks (FFIV), which slid 7.7% after it agreed to acquire NGINX in a roughly $670M deal. Also lower was Zafgen (ZFGN), which fell 37.2% after it reported quarterly results, announced the resignation of its chief medical officer, and suspended IND filing plans for ZGN-1258. In addition, ADT (ADT) was 13.4% lower after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: The Dow fell 96.22, or 0.38%, to 25,554.66, the Nasdaq gained 32.97, or 0.44%, to 7,591.03, and the S&P 500 advanced 8.22, or 0.3%, to 2,791.52.
