KHC Kraft Heinz Company

By Caitlin Ostroff 

U.S. stocks opened little changed Thursday following fresh concerns about the U.S.-China trade deal and the Federal Reserve's signals that it may pause interest-rate cuts.

The S&P 500 dropped less than 0.1% shortly after the opening bell. The index had notched on Wednesday its second record close of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 27144 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1%.

Chinese officials have warned that they won't budge on some of the most difficult issues that need to be negotiated with the U.S., and expressed concerns that President Trump may back out of even the initial deal they hope to reach in coming weeks, according to Bloomberg.

The markets have underestimated the difficulty in negotiating a long-term deal between the two nations given the complexity of their links, according to Neil Dwane, global strategist at Allianz Global Investors.

"There are many, many facets to the changing relationship between the U.S. and China," Mr. Dwane said. "The trade issue is arguably the least important."

Meanwhile, U.S. households slightly increased their spending in September, a sign consumers remained on steady -- though more cautious -- footing heading into the fourth quarter.

Personal-consumption expenditures, or household spending, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in September from August, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Outlays rose at a similar pace in August after growing more briskly in the first half of 2019.

Elsewhere, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 gauge dropped 0.2%.

European stocks wavered earlier in the day as investors also took note of the Fed's policy statement, which signaled a higher hurdle for rate reductions after its third cut this year.

Assets considered to be a haven at times of uncertainty saw an uptick. Gold climbed and government-bond prices rose.

Early U.S. trading saw major moves in blue-chip stocks.

Facebook jumped 4.9% after the social-media giant's quarterly profit and sales exceeded Wall Street's expectations. Kraft Heinz shares jumped 8% after the food company beat forecasts for its quarterly profit.

Apple ticked up 1.8% after it reported growth in gadgets and services that helped offset a decline in iPhone sales.

Over in Europe, Peugeot maker PSA Group was the worst performer, dropping 13.4% following its agreement to merge with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in a deal that will create one of the world's largest auto makers by volume.

Fiat shares climbed 7.7% in Milan, while shares of rival Renault slumped 3.4%.

Royal Dutch Shell shares trimmed 3.1% after the oil giant expressed uncertainty over the pace of it completing its $25 billion share buyback, raising doubt over whether the program would be finished by the end of 2020.

Earlier Thursday, data showed Chinese manufacturing activity fell to an eight-month low in October, in another signal that the world's second-largest economy is under pressure from the trade tensions. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4%.

Write to Caitlin Ostroff at caitlin.ostroff@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 31, 2019 09:57 ET (13:57 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.