Wall Street stocks hit fresh record highs on Thursday as rising oil prices and strong earnings from department stores Macy’s and Kohl’s buoyed investor sentiment.
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The energy index declined 1.41%, hurt by a drop in oil prices after the United States government reported a surprise crude stockpile build, while Saudi Arabia revealed record crude production in July.
Investors welcomed some better-than-expected quarterly results from Macy’s and Kohl’s, which spurred gains for several other big retail chains.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,599 as of 10:15 a.m. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 11 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,187.
The Nasdaq bucked the trend, adding 4.50 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,232.89.
Exxon Mobil XOM.N rose 1.4 percent and gave the biggest boost to the Dow, while Chevron CVX.N was up 0.5 percent.
The S&P 500 is up 2.92 points, or 0.1 percent.
Shares of Walt Disney rose 1.23 percent after the company late on Tuesday reported results that beat estimates and said it is buying a 33 percent stake in video-streaming firm BAMTech.
Oil stumbled Wednesday after US inventories rose by 1.1 million barrels in the first week of August just as Saudi Arabia said it was pumping out record production.
After topping its previous record in mid-July, the S&P 500 has inched higher in a range, not moving more than 1 percent in either direction for 23 straight days, the longest streak since 2014.
In the oil sector, Oil Search is lower by more than 1 percent, Woodside Petroleum is down nearly 2 percent and Santos is losing nearly 3 percent after crude oil prices fell overnight. Global stocks mostly fell Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016, amid quiet summer trading and questions about the sustainability of some indexes’ rise to record highs. Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index rose 1.1 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4 percent. Murphy Oil climbed $1.14, or 4.2 percent, to $28.58, while Chesapeake Energy rose 20 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $5. Devon Energy added $1.85, or 4.7 percent, to $41.42.
A sharp sell-off in energy companies has pulled U.S. stock indexes modestly lower, wiping out small gains from the day before.
Gold and other precious metals declined. Copper gained two cents, or 0.9%, to 2.19 a pound.
CURRENCIES: In currency markets, the dollar rose to 101.39 yen from 101.20 on Wednesday. The euro strengthened to $1.1164 from $1.1141.
CHINA CHURN: A Chinese official sought to reassure companies and investors that the growth in the world’s second-largest economy is stable after the government reported retail sales rose 10.2 percent in July from a year earlier, down from June’s 10.6 percent growth. “We have seen jumps in the consumer side in the economic news being corroborated by the retail names that are late in the reporting cycle”. The stock fell $2.44 to $68.85. For 61% stocks that advanced, 36% declined.
Meanwhile, shares of JB Hi-Fi are gaining more than 3 percent after the ACCC paved the way for the acquisition of The Good Guys.
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In regular trade, SunPower shares sank 30 percent after the company swung to a second-quarter loss, lowered its full-year revenue forecast and said it would reorganize its business. Silicon Graphics added $1.71 to $7.69.
