Wall Street, still smarting over weak retail earnings that raised questions about the health of USA consumers, is pushing stocks higher Thursday amid a rebound in oil prices and a profit miss from retailer Kohl’s. It came as US crude futures surged more than 3% above $46 a barrel, amid an unexpected draw in domestic crude stockpiles last week.
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Wall Street fell. In 2.56pm NY trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.9%. “What is still really missing from this environment is a notable rally in the banking stocks which is an important driver for any stock market rally”.
Studio revenue for the quarter increased 22 percent to $2.1 billion, powered by the box-office success of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and animated movie “Zootopia”, Reuters said. “In particular, our sales trend relative to expectations meaningfully slowed beginning in mid-March, and first quarter results are below our original outlook”.
Near 8:38 a.m. ET, Dow futures were down 36 points (-0.2%), S&P 500 futures were down 2 points (-0.12%), and Nasdaq futures were off 3 points (-0.09%).
S&P 500 e-minis were down 4 points, or 0.19 percent, with 146,579 contracts traded.
June West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on $1.57, or 3.5%, to settle at $46.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Nasdaq-100 futures NQM6, -0.23% declined by 11.50 points, or 0.3%, to 4,380.50.
Plus, a USA judge halted Staples (SPLS)’ $6 billion merger with Office Depot (ODP), granting a preliminary injunction for antitrust reasons.
With Apple souring sentiment in the tech group, semiconductor shares fell to a two-month low.
China’s Hang Seng lost 139.83 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 19,915.46 while Shanghai was flat at 2,835.86.
A report on retail sales is due Friday, along with an update on producer prices. The Dollar is down versus the Euro and up against the Yen. A gauge of lenders fell the most on the index, with Raiffeisen Bank International AG tumbling after saying it’s considering merging with its parent company to ease the pressure of regulatory requirements.
US Treasuries extended their price gains after a strong government auction of $23 billion in 10-year notes. Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.1%, while stocks in Hong Kong closed down almost 1%.
Friday will see the release of some highly anticipated USA economic data, with traders likely to keep a close eye on reports on retail sales, producer prices, and consumer sentiment.
USA crude oil futures for June delivery fell 45 cents to $44.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,619 to 1,181.
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Electronic Arts was also the top performer on the S&P 500, just ahead of Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX), which gained 0.75 or 6.91% to 11.61, as gold futures rallied following a sizable two-day sell-off.
