Slide in banks, energy firms weighs on stock indexes

U.S. stocks capped another day of listless trading with a slight loss Thursday as a slide in banks and industrial companies offset solid gains for the technology sector.

Homebuilders also declined following new data showing sales of new U.S. homes slumped in July. U.S. crude oil prices also ended essentially flat.

Investors had their eye on the latest developments in the U.S.China trade dispute as both nations held their first high-level talks in two months. Traders also were looking ahead to Friday’s gathering of central bankers, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, an annual symposium that has often generated market-moving news.

“It’s been a fairly quiet day,” said Paul Springmeyer, head of investments at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “There’s obviously some reservation about what’s going to come out from Jackson Hole, from Chairman Powell.”

The S&P 500 fell 4.84 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,856.98. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 76.62 points, or 0.3 percent, to 25,656.98. The Nasdaq composite lost 10.64 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,878.46. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 5.49 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,717.05.

Stocks spent much of the day hovering just below their prior day closing levels.

Markets showed little reaction to the latest round of duel