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US midday: Steady gains for resource stocks

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Date: Thursday 08 May 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - US stocks made gentle gains in the morning session as miners and oil stocks moved higher, though sales figures from the retail sector were mixed.

Dow Jones is up 39 at 12,854. Nasdaq has added 9 at 2,448 while the S&P 500 is 2 higher at 1,394.

Retailers releasing their April sales figures show a mixed batch of performances. Wal-Mart saw same-store sales increase 3.2% in April while discount retailer Costco saw a solid 8% sales gain, which beat forecast of a 6.1% increase. Department store JC Penney is weaker after same-store sales fell 1.7% in April. Target said April same-store sales rose 3.1%, missing forecasts for a rise of 4.5%.

Manitowoc is going well after its agreed bid for UK restaurant equipment maker Enodis was trumped by a higher offer from Illinois Tool Works.

Pipelines company El Paso moved into profit in the first quarter. The company reported first quarter earnings per share of 29 cents compared with a loss of 8 cents per share in the corresponding period of last year

Elsewhere, weekly dole claimants fell by 18,000 last week to 365,000, while wholesale inventories fell 0.1% in March, missing forecasts for growth of 0.5%. February's reading was revised down to growth of 0.9% from 1.1%.

Oil prices fell to $122.10 after a record $123.53 a barrel on Wednesday.