The markets traded mixed during the midday with the Dow losing 10 points to 18,344 as crude oil prices and jobless claims both rose. Nasdaq gained 10 points to 5,170.
The Bank of England provided a sober outlook of the post-Brexit U.K. economy. Inflation is expected to climb 2.4% by the end of 2018 while output will drop by 2.5%. Approximately 250,000 jobs will be lost. As part of its efforts to prevent a recession, the BOE cut interest rates to record low of 0.25% and will begin a new round of quantitative easing.
Walmart is exploring the possible acquisition of Jet.com to jumpstart its e-commerce business. The world's largest retailer reported $485.7 billion in revenue for 2015 with only $13.7 billion from online sales. Concerns were raised about Walmart's e-commerce strategy when the company reported a modest 7% growth in online sales in the first quarter.
Facebook is engaging in another campaign to reduce clickbait in News Feed. The social network has identified two main categories of clickbait headlines and will use algorithms to identify and reduce the distribution of clickbait headlines. The changes will improve user experience and encourage people to stay on Facebook longer.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 edged up a fraction to 2,164. Bitcoin rose $4 to $569.
