US Close - US stocks tread water after hitting records
Best Buy Co. Inc.
$74.35
11:04 14/05/24
Tiffany & Co.
$0.00
14:25 11/03/24
- Russian troops reported inside Ukraine
- Oil inventories drop by 2.1m barrels a day
- Mortgage applications rose last week
Dow Jones Industrials: 17,122 +15 0.09%
Nasdaq Composite: 4,570 -1 0.01%
S&P 500: 2,000 0.00%
US stocks were little changed on Wednesday as investors sat tight after indices hit record levels on the previous day, although retail stocks provided some interest.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher by 15 points to 17,122 while the S&P 500 was flat at the 2,000-point mark in a lacklustre day in terms of news-flow. That came despite a report in The New York Times that Russian troops had engaged in fighting inside of Ukraine.
Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets said: "With US markets at important psychological levels, shares appeared more vulnerable to selling than those in Europe but saving any geopolitical event later in the session action should remain fairly flat ahead of key data tomorrow."
Of the few items of economic data due out Wednesday, analysts said EIA crude oil stock figures were probably the most notable as they could impact crude prices.
In the event, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Department of Energy's statistical arm, reported that US commercial crude oil inventories fell by 2.1m barrels from the previous week.
Mortgage applications rose last week as demand for both refinancing and purchase loans increased, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Aircraft from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt attacked militia forces in Libya in the past week, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, opposing the intervention.
"We discourage other nations from taking part in Libya's issues through violence," he said.
Meanwhile, the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the 2014 US public deficit would now reach the equivalent of 2.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), falling to 2.6% next year.
Iconic jewellery store chain Tiffany & Co and fashion chain Express rose after posting better-than-expected quarterly revenue and raising annual profit forecasts.
Electronics retailer Best Buy rebounded from a drop of 6.8% on Tuesday after it forecast lower annual sales.
Clothing retailer Chico's FAS was out of fashion after its results, dipping more than 4%.
The value of equities globally has soared from $25trn in March 2009 to $66trn as of yesterday's close. Stocks were valued at $63trn at the 2007 peak, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Broker Janney Montgomery downgraded shares in Facebook to 'neutral' from 'buy' and MannKind Corp gained 1.8% after broker Jefferies recommended buying the stock.
Industrial conglomerate United Technologies fell slightly after reaffirming its forecast for earnings per share this year of between $6.75 and $6.85. The company also raised the size of its share repurchase programme to $1.35bn from $1.25bn.
Front month West Texas crude futures edged 0.54% higher to $93.86 per barrel on the Nymex.
US 10-year Treasury yields slipped to 2.36%.
PW
S&P 500 - Risers
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $31.69 +6.34%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $11.48 +3.89%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $39.80 +3.39%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $30.39 +2.19%
Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (PNW) $56.62 +1.91%
Humana Inc. (HUM) $127.32 +1.82%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $22.63 +1.80%
FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) $33.80 +1.75%
American Electric Power Co. Inc. (AEP) $53.15 +1.70%
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (DPS) $61.82 +1.54%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $54.59 -4.99%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $101.78 -2.61%
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) $206.05 -2.51%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $51.03 -2.27%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $68.48 -1.91%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $169.17 -1.80%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $74.63 -1.75%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $63.71 -1.62%
Red Hat Inc. (RHT) $61.07 -1.55%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $196.20 -1.55%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $86.38 +1.48%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $29.49 +0.96%
AT&T Inc. (T) $34.75 +0.72%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $94.76 +0.59%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $94.65 +0.57%
General Electric Co. (GE) $26.13 +0.46%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $108.55 +0.45%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $75.85 +0.44%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $90.37 +0.39%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $49.43 +0.37%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $109.09 -0.54%
3M Co. (MMM) $143.94 -0.46%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $192.25 -0.38%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $65.93 -0.35%
Boeing Co. (BA) $128.20 -0.31%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $44.87 -0.30%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $59.59 -0.25%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $103.22 -0.21%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $99.53 -0.11%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $83.31 -0.08%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $11.48 +3.89%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $39.80 +3.39%
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $8.89 +1.95%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $22.63 +1.80%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $34.54 +1.41%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $43.75 +1.25%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $65.54 +1.24%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $102.13 +1.23%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $107.48 +1.14%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $75.15 +1.08%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $54.59 -4.99%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $101.78 -2.61%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $51.03 -2.27%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $169.17 -1.80%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $74.63 -1.75%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $196.20 -1.55%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $471.59 -1.48%
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $134.73 -1.34%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,260.77 -1.31%
Google Inc. Class C (GOOG) $571.00 -1.19%