USA stocks opened higher on Thursday as strong labor market data and upbeat corporate earnings reports buoyed investor sentiment about United States economic growth. Ex-auto sales had been expected to rise by 0.2 percent. The Nasdaq also notched a record close on Tuesday. An industry report released Thursday projected a more even balance in the supply and demand for oil this year.
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Last time this happened, it didn’t last that long. “That should at least support the commodity price”.
A loss of 37.39 points or 0.20% closing at 18,495.66 from the Dow Jones Industrial Average while the Standard and Poor’s closed at 2,175.49, 500 lower and a loss of 6.25 points or 0.29%. The S&P 500 index added 0.5 percent to 2,185.79, up 0.13 percent the high it set on Friday.
Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices, has been tracking the company-level predictions submitted by Wall Street analysts for the Dow’s 30 components. The Nasdaq composite rose 26 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 5,230.
Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.2 percent despite a report showing private sector machinery orders rebounded in June from May.
USA stocks ended lower on Wednesday, impacted by a weaker oil prices. Consumer-focused companies, energy and technology stocks were among the biggest gainers.
“The equity markets in Canada and the US are really being led higher by energy and consumer sectors”, said Craig Jerusalim, a portfolio manager for Canadian equities at CIBC.
Traders bid up oil prices in response to the International Energy Agency’s latest forecast. The agency said it expects that supply and demand for oil will be more in balance the rest of this year.
The price of crude oil climbed 0.7 percent to $41.98 a barrel in NY.
Brent crude which is used to price global oils was down by 2.1% or 93 cents to $44.05 per barrel in London.
Reports on a large, unexpected increase in the US oil stockpiles fell heavily on the crude oil price repealing an early gain. Bond prices fell and the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.54 percent.
Macy’s shares soared 11 percent after the department store operator reported a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly comparable store sales and said it would close 100 stores. The stock rose $5.40, or 15.7 percent, to $39.34.
Investors also bought up shares in several other retail chains.
After climbing to record highs in the previous session, stocks may give back some ground in early trading on Friday. The retailers’ earnings fueled optimism for the USA government’s latest monthly tally of retail sales Friday.
Clothing company Ralph Lauren surged 8.5 percent after it too delivered strong quarterly results.
SHAKEN: Hamburger chain Shake Shack slumped 7.1 percent after it said sales at older locations slowed down in the latest quarter. The stock shed $2.53 to $38.34. The major index futures are now pointing to a modestly lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 21 points.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 0.9 percent, while France’s CAC 40 was up 1.2 percent. South Korea’s Kospi added less than 0.1 percent.
The December gold contract rose $6.50 to US$1,358.40 an ounce, while September copper contracts rose two cents to US$2.19 a pound. General Growth Properties fell 89 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $29.83, while Simon Property Group shed $4.01, or 1.8 percent, at $214.97.
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Alibaba rose 4.8 percent after the Chinese e-commerce giant posted a 59 percent jump in quarterly revenue.
