BUSINESS BRIEFS

Losses for health care companies and banks left stocks lower Thursday, although a late push for technology and industrial companies helped the market avoid a steeper decline.

The Dow Jones industrial average managed a tiny gain, thanks to a rise in Boeing, erasing an earlier loss of 393 points. AIG slumped 5.3 percent and prescription drug distributor Cardinal Health plunged 21.4 percent.

The S&P 500 index slid 5 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,629. The Dow edged up 5 points to 23,930. The Nasdaq fell 12 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,088.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10year Treasury note fell to 2.95 percent.

US-China trade talks center on rivalry over technology

Chinese and U.S. officials met Thursday in an attempt to resolve a dispute over technology that has taken the world’s two largest economies the closest they’ve ever come to a trade war.

A U.S. delegation arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials aimed at defusing the tensions, though analysts say they appear unlikely to yield a breakthrough given the two sides’ intensifying rivalry in strategic technologies, where China lags behind the U.S.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is leading the group, which includes Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Liu He, President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, headed the Chinese side in the talks, which are expected to end Friday.

Record exports cut US trade deficit to $49 billion

Record exports trimmed the U.S. trade deficit in March, the first drop in seven months in a massive gap that President Donald Trump is determined to shrink with an aggressive Americafirst policy.

The Commerce Department says the trade deficit – the difference between what America sells and what it buys in foreign markets – slid to $49 billion, down from $57.7 billion in February and lowest since September.

Exports rose in March to a record $208.5 billion, led by shipments of civilian aircraft and soybeans. Imports slipped 1.8 percent to $257.5 billion.

The United States ran a $20.5 billion surplus in the trade of services such as education and banking. But that was offset by a $69.5 billion deficit in the trade of goods.

Productivity grows at tepid 0.7 percent rate in first quarter

Productivity grew at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the first three months of 2018, a weak reading but a slight improvement from the previous quarter.

The first-quarter increase followed a weaker 0.3 percent gain in the fourth quarter of last year, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Labor costs rose 2.7 percent in the first quarter.