A sharp sell-off in energy companies pulled USA stock indexes modestly lower Wednesday, wiping out small gains from the day before.
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Consumer-discretionary and energy stocks led broad gains across the market.
Oil: “There is not much news that markets can react at the moment, so investors are responding to volatility in oil prices, especially in light of the earnings season that showed energy companies still struggling”, said Wouter Sturkenboom, senior investment strategist at Russell Investments. On Thursday the Dow Jones Industrial Average set a new record high for the first time in three weeks, climbing 117.86 points or 0.6% to close at 18,613.52.
The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 0.4 percent to 5,204.59. The Nasdaq composite was down 8 points, or 0.1 percent, at 5,218. Nordtsrom, which was due to report its latest quarterly results after the close of regular trading Thursday, gained $3.12, or 7.1 percent, to $47.35, while Gap added 91 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $24.95.
OPEC on Thursday said it might intervene if prices remained weak, sparking investors short on oil futures to cover their positions and push industry standard Brent crude up 4.3% in USA trade.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 38 points, or 0.2 percent, to 18,495. Following the reports from Macy’s and Kohl’s, apparel companies in the S&P 500 rose toward a four-month high, while retailers briefly touched a record.
The flip in oil prices helped turn London’s FTSE 100 from losses to gains of 0.7%, lifting the index to a 2016 high.
Department chains Macy’s (NYSE: M) and Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) both reported quarterly results that beat Wall Street’s expectations. Copper gained 2 cents, or 1 percent, to $2.17 a pound.
Energy companies led USA stocks modestly lower in late-afternoon trading Wednesday, following another slide in crude oil prices.
Macy’s jumped 17 per cent after also saying it plans to close about 14 per cent of its stores in a bid to maintain profitability.
OIL PRICES: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 19 cents to $43.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline slipped 4 cents to $1.30 a gallon, while heating oil lost a penny to $1.32 a gallon.
ANALYST QUOTE: “All eyes will now turn to Friday’s retail sales figures from the US, which could provide the market with some direction”, said Alex Furber, senior client services executive at CMC Markets.
Stocks slid Wednesday as oil declined 2.5 percent. Silver futures lost a little less than 1 percent to $19.98 on the day.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.51 percent.
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Bloomberg’s dollar index, a gauge of the greenback versus 10 major peers, rose 0.1 per cent. The euro weakened to 1.1141 dollars from 1.1175.
