The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended Thursday's shortened session nearly unchanged, with Ecolab Inc. taking the biggest gain.
The S&P 500 edged up 1.38 points to close at 1,262.90.
Ecolab, which provides cleaning and pest control services, said that shareholder Henkel AG & Co. intends to sell part or all of its investment in the company, and that three directors picked by Henkel have quit.
Shares of Ecolab gained $2.04, or 4.8 percent, to $44.48.
Biotechnology company Amgen Inc. gained $2, or 4.1 percent, to $50.84.
Family Dollar Stores Inc. added 57 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $22.52 after the discount store chain posted fiscal third-quarter earnings that beat expectations. The retailer also raised its fourth-quarter and full-year outlook.
Among the decliners, shares of Freddie Mac lost $1.42, or 8.9 percent, to $14.50. They hit a 13-year low of $14.35 in intraday trading. The mortgage buyer said Thursday that rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.35 percent this week, down from 6.45 percent last week.
Shares of regional bank First Horizon National Corp. lost 60 cents, or 7.8 percent, to $7.07. They touched an all-time low of $6.65 earlier in the session.
AK Steel Holding Corp. gave up $3.86, or 6.8 percent, to $52.79. The company said Thursday it will add a $905 per ton surcharge to invoices for electrical steel products shipped in August.
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