All three major indexes ended in the green on Thursday for the first time in more than week as the wave of selling that has slammed Wall Street appears to have lost some momentum.
Today's Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 4.76 points, or 0.06%, to 8183.17, the Standard & Poor's 500 added 3.12 points, or 0.35%, to 882.68 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 5.38 point, or 0.31%, to 1752.55. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 rose 1.07 points, or 0.16%, to 655.11.
The mostly flat trading session on Wall Street comes amid a bearish stretch for the markets that has erased more than 300 points from the Dow in just a week. But with a pair of late-day climbs the last two days, the bulls have at least stemmed the bleeding.
“It appears the sellers have run out of ammunition. But that doesn’t mean they can’t run out to the woodshed and find some,” NSYE trader Jason Weisberg of Seaport Securities told FOX Business.
The markets were shoved in one direction or the other throughout the trading day amid a series of opposing storylines.
On the one hand, the government said initial jobless claims tumbled to their lowest level since January, the U.S. completed another successful bond auction and Alcoa (AA) started earnings season off with a beat. On the other hand, retailers posted more disappointing sales results and crude oil, viewed as a barometer for the economy, managed just a slim rebound from a six-day slide.
“We’re very lackluster right now. Volume is still low but the volatility isn’t there,” said Jonathan Corpina, senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners. “There are some players sitting on the sideline waiting for this market to move in one particular direction. I think we’re going to continue to stay like this until” earnings season picks up next week.
Underscoring the lack of volatility, the Dow moved just 83 points between its high and low on Thursday, the fourth-smallest trading range of the year.
More than half of the Dow's 30 components closed higher, led by JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and General Electric (GE). On the downside, drug makers Pfizer (PFE) and Merck (MRK) were two of the biggest percentage losers.
The Nasdaq Composite enjoyed stronger gains than the broader markets as tech stocks like Google (GOOG) and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIMM) rose sharply.
Wall Street was led higher Thursday by energy stocks like Cabot Oil (COG) and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), which surged higher as crude oil's longest slump since Christmas Eve came to an end. A day after settling at its lowest level since May 19, crude closed higher by 27 cents per barrel, or 0.45%, to $60.41.
Financial stocks also bounced back from Wednesday's selloff as Goldman Sachs (GS) was upgraded to "buy" by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, which predicted the investment bank could beat the Street.
Earnings jitters were eased somewhat by Alcoa, which started earnings season by posting its third-straight quarterly loss but one that was narrower than expected. The results helped spark a rally in metals and mining stocks like Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) and AK Steel (AKS).
On the economic front, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims unexpectedly plunged last week by 52,000 to 565,000 -- the lowest level since January. However, some traders were skeptical of the data as the week of the Fourth of July is typically volatile for claims and the government said continuing claims surged by 159,000 to 6.9 million -- a new all-time record.
The markets received a mini bounce after the Treasury Department announced mixed results of an $11 billion auction of 30-year bonds. The sale received average demand but yields came in higher than expected. In any case, the auction capped off a successful week of bond auctions that could further ease Wall Street’s fears of higher interest rates.
Meanwhile, a slew of retailers reported same-store sales results for June that missed Wall Street’s already-low expectations, including Gap (GPS), the Limited (LTD) and Buckle (BKE). On the other hand, department stores Macy’s (M) and Nordstrom (JWN) beat estimates and J.C. Penney (JCP) boosted its second-quarter sales and earnings view. Disappointment regarding the retail sales reports was offset by Target (TGT), which said it sees meeting or beating consensus earnings estimates this quarter despite a 6.2% slide in June same-store sales.
Corporate Movers
General Motors expects to close on the sale of its “good” assets to New GM sometime before 9 a.m. EDT Friday, FOX Business has learned, putting the auto maker on pace to emerge from bankruptcy quicker than anticipated. FBN has also learned that retiring Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is returning to GM in a new capacity.
Citigroup (C) announced a management shuffle, with John Gerspach being named the bailed-out bank’s new chief financial officer, replacing Ned Kelly, who will become vice chairman. At the same time, former Merrill Lynch exec Eugene McQuade is taking over as CEO of Citibank and Gary Crittenden, chairman of Citi Holdings, resigned.
American International Group (AIG) likely has no equity value due to more potential CDS losses and a firesale of its businesses, Citigroup analysts said while slashing their price target on the bailed-out insurer by 61% to $14. The analyst call comes as The Wall Street Journal reported AIG has revived talks with rival MetLife (MET) over unloading all or part of American Life Insurance Co., or Alico, its prized foreign life insurance unit.
EMC (EMC) beat out rival NetApp (NTAP) in the bidding war for storage technology company Data Domain (DDUP) with a $2.4 billion offer. The war ended Wednesday when NetApp withdrew its earlier $1.9 billion offer and paid a $57 million breakup fee.
Amazon.com (AMZN) slashed the price of its standard Kindle electronic reader by 17% to $299 amid a bidding war with Sony (SNE) and smaller rivals.
Costco (COST) said June same-store sales fell by an in-line 6% from a year ago as revenue from big-ticket items continues to be pressured.
3Com (COMS) beat the Street by swinging to a fourth-quarter adjusted-profit of 10 cents per share. The company posted an in-line decrease in revenue of 8.2%.
Data Dump
The markets had little reaction to the latest report on business inventories, which showed wholesalers cut supplies by 0.8% in May, slightly less than economists expected. The report, which measures excess supply, showed distributors are still cutting back on inventories to counter slumping demand.
Global Markets
European markets were up across the board as London's FTSE 100 rose 0.45% to 4158.66, France's CAC 40 gained 0.54% to 3025.90 and Germany's DAX advanced 1.26% to 4630.07.
Asian markets ended mixed overnight as Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.38% to 9291.06, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.39% to 17790.59 and China's Shanghai Composite rallied 1.37% to 3123.04.
