Wall Street stocks turned negative while gold prices surged on Thursday as declining financial shares and simmering trade tensions between the United States and China dampened investor enthusiasm. All three major U.S. stock indexes reversed earlier gains by late morning as safe-haven seekers continued to send gold to fresh highs. Disappointing results from Travelers and Zions Bancorp's disclosure that it would take a $50 million loss in the third quarter pulled the financial index down more than 2%, overshadowing renewed artificial intelligence fervor driven by chipmaker TSMC's record profit and full-year guidance hike.

"In the absence of data, the banks are going to be providing the sort of data substitute," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Ha

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