The markets traded mixed during the midday with the Dow dropping 47 points to 19,915 while Nasdaq gained 15 points to 5,536.
McDonald's will sell 80% of its stake in its restaurants in China. Chinese companies CITIC and CITIC Capital will acquire a 52% interest in the fast food restaurants while Carlyle Group will take a 28% stake. The move is part of a plan to customize menus to local markets and open up to 1,500 additional restaurants in China.
Alibaba executive chair Jack Ma discussed the Chinese e-commerce company's expansion plans with U.S. president elect Donald Trump. Alibaba will add as many as one million small businesses in the U.S. to its marketplace to sell wine and fruit to Chinese consumers. Ma expects the plan to create one million jobs in the U.S.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Volkswagen senior manager Oliver Schmidt for his role in the automaker's diesel emissions scandal. Schmidt is charged with defrauding the U.S. The FBI alleges that Schmidt knew about the electronic software that was installed in diesel vehicles to pass emissions tests in the U.S. yet he deceived and mislead government regulators about the emissions cheating.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index lost 4 points to 2,272. Bitcoin dropped $16 to $873.
