US close: Unemployment data limits losses

Date: Thursday 12 Jul 2012

US stocks once again closed down on Thursday, making this the longest string of declining sessions in almost two months, pushed lower by concerns over growth and with investors fumbling at trying to interpret yesterday´s Fed minutes.

Both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 fell for a sixth day, while the Nasdaq declined for a fifth.

Simply put, for now the US central bank is not yet ready to move. This should not come as a great surprise but the fact remains that some recent analyst surveys have been showing a majority as expecting another round of quantitative easing to materialize in the next few months; hence the possibility of a degree of disappointment amongst investors, although the equity market´s reaction last night seems to have been extremely muted.

Critically, nonetheless, equities were able to move off their lows as analysts took solace in a 10,000 person drop in the four week moving average for weekly initial unemployment claims.

Fastenal leads gains on benchmark

Procter & Gamble rose after it was reported that activist investor Bill Ackman at Pershing Square Capital Management might be looking to purchase a large position in the household products giant.

Cement producer Texas Industries was also a strong rise after it returned to the black in its fiscal fourth quarter.

Fastenal, the industrial hardware store, ended the day higher after reporting a 19% rise in quarterly profits following stable demand from manufactures.

Meanwhile, hotels group Marriott lost ground after warning some overseas markets are showing signs of slowing. Also pushing the stock lower was the firm's reduction to its growth in revenue target per available room.

Biotechnology company Immunogen also took a hit after it gave limited details of its plan to offer new stock to the market.

Better than expected data

Import prices fell by 2.7% month-on-month in June, well below the 1.8% that was expected, dragged down by prices of oil imports. That is the largest drop since back in December 2008, bad days those.

Initial weekly unemployment claims retreated by 26,000 last week, to 350,000 (Consensus: 372,000), although unusual seasonal factors have played a role.

Other Markets

August delivery for crude gained 0.31% to end the day at $86.08 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

10-year US treasuries were up 12/32 dollars at a yield of 1.47.

S&P 500 - Risers
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $42.31 +6.28%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $42.91 +4.13%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $84.97 +4.08%
Constellation Brands Inc. Class A (STZ) $28.74 +4.06%
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) $63.09 +3.80%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $63.70 +3.75%
AutoZone Inc. (AZO) $382.45 +3.66%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $91.21 +3.62%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $31.06 +3.60%
W.W. Grainger Inc. (GWW) $185.43 +3.58%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Supervalu Inc. (SVU) $2.69 -49.15%
Safeway Inc. (SWY) $15.73 -12.51%
Lexmark International Inc. (LXK) $24.31 -7.53%
Marriott International Inc. (MAR) $35.58 -6.44%
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT) $48.66 -5.29%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $53.48 -5.14%
Progressive Corp. (PGR) $19.53 -4.96%
Metropcs Communications Inc. (PCS) $6.23 -4.89%
MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) $2.18 -4.80%
Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) $16.26 -4.69%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $42.91 +4.13%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $63.70 +3.75%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $91.93 +2.68%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $22.67 +1.48%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $47.41 +0.30%
Boeing Co. (BA) $71.71 +0.27%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $105.03 +0.17%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $72.31 +0.07%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.74 -2.56%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $15.98 -2.44%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $28.63 -2.29%
American Express Co. (AXP) $56.93 -1.98%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $7.48 -1.97%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $19.35 -1.73%
3M Co. (MMM) $86.41 -1.64%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $34.04 -1.59%
General Electric Co. (GE) $19.44 -1.22%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $183.09 -1.17%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $42.31 +6.28%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $91.21 +3.62%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $18.71 +3.03%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $31.26 +2.42%
Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) $42.50 +2.29%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $28.39 +1.90%
Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $18.25 +1.90%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $67.64 +1.38%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $39.93 +1.32%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $75.97 +1.05%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Infosys Technologies Ltd. (INFY) $38.75 -11.16%
Nll Holdings Inc. (NIHD) $8.17 -7.89%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $53.48 -5.14%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $14.01 -4.37%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $96.75 -3.87%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $44.06 -3.40%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $13.28 -3.21%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.74 -2.56%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $15.98 -2.44%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $76.72 -2.33%

NR

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