US stocks little changed after media industry earnings

Wall Street stocks treaded water early Thursday as second-quarter earnings season moved further into the home stretch with a flurry of media industry reports.

About 30 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up slightly at 25 587.51.

The broad-based S&P 500 was essentially flat at 2 858.34, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.2% to 7 901.38.

Stock markets drifted Wednesday, finishing little changed following a meandering session with low trading volumes as investors largely shrugged off the latest exchange of tariffs by the US and China.

Twenty-First Century Fox fell 0.8% after reporting its fourth-quarter earnings surged 85% to $983m due to good movie ticket sales and a strong performance in television.

The company hopes to sell key production assets to Disney in the first half of 2019.

Viacom surged 4.6% after fourth-quarter profits translated into $1.18 a share, topping analyst expectations by 11 cents.

Also in media industry news, Sinclair Broadcast Group fell 4.0% as Tribune Media Company terminated a merger with the company and filed a lawsuit, alleging Sinclair breached their agreement. Tribune rose 2.2%.

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