Technology sector remains the sole gainer led by Apple
US stocks ended in a mixed mode once again at Wall Street on Wednesday, 24 July 2013. While Nasdaq was the only index to end in the green, Dow and S&P 500 ended in the red. Mixed earning reports and weaker than expected data from China took stocks lower. But better than expected housing data put a brake on the decline of stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 25.50 points, or 0.2%, to end at 15,542.24. The Nasdaq added a fraction to 3,579.60. The S&P 500 declined 6.45 points, or 0.4%, to 1,685.94.
Nine out of ten sectors ended in the red led by consumer staples. Technology sector was the sole gainer.
The tech sector spent the entire session in positive territory after Apple's earnings topped analyst estimates. The largest tech stock gained 5.1%.
In overnight news, China manufacturing data came in weaker than expected Wednesday. The preliminary HSBC China purchasing managers' index fell to 47.7 in July versus a final reading of 48.2 in June, and is now at an 11-month low. A reading below 50.0 indicates contraction. Asian stock markets were pressured on the data.
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The European Union's preliminary Markit purchasing managers' index rose to 50.4 in July from 48.7 in June, which is the first reading above 50.0 in a year and a half and suggests the Euro zone is slowly creeping out of its economic recession. European stock markets rose and the Euro currency rallied against the U.S. dollar on the upbeat economic data. German bond market prices dropped sharply, which suggests better risk appetite among European investors.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, rose by 0.3% on Wednesday.
Among economic data expected at Wall Street today, new home sales increased for a third consecutive month. Sales rose 8.3% in June to 497,000 from a downwardly revised 459,000 (from 476,000) in May. The consensus expected sales to increase to 483,000. The June sales total was the highest since May 2008 when 504,000 new homes were sold.
Separately, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 1.2% to follow last week's decline of 2.6%. This was the sixth negative reading in a row and the tenth decline out of the past eleven weeks.
Among major stocks under focus, Caterpillar shares fell 2.4% after the maker of construction and mining equipment reported a drop in second-quarter profit and lowered its full-year outlook. AT&T also weighed on the blue-chip index, its shares off 1.1%, after the telecommunications company reported second-quarter profit slipped 2.1%. Boeing shares erased gains to end down 0.8%.
Crude-oil prices ended at lowest levels in two weeks on Wednesday, 24 July 2013 at Nymex. Prices fell despite a drop in crude stockpiles for last week as a weak reading for manufacturing activity in China and disappointing earnings from Caterpillar made investors worry about impending energy demand in coming months. Light and sweet crude for August ended lower by $1.84 (1.7%) at $105.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.
In the latest weekly inventory report, the Energy Information Administration reported a 2.8 million-barrel fall in crude stockpiles for the week ended July 19. Market was looking for a 2.5 million-barrel decline. Based on the EIA data, crude supplies have tallied a four-week drop of 29.9 million barrels. The report also showed that gasoline supplies declined by 1.4 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles, which include heating oil, fell 1.2 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles were expected to climb by 800,000 barrels, while forecasts called for an increase of 1.9 million barrels for distillates.
Bullion metal prices ended lower on Wednesday, 24 July 2013 at Comex. Strength in the U.S. dollar and a surge in new U.S. homes sales last month to their highest in more than five years contributed to gold's weakness.
Gold for August delivery ended lower by $15 (1.1%) at $1,319.7 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday. September silver ended lower by $0.23 (1.2%) at $20.02 an ounce on Wednesday.
Decliners outran advancers more than three to one on the New York Stock Exchange, where 676 million shares traded. Composite volume surpassed 3.3 billion.
Indian ADRs ended mixed on Wednesday. In the IT space, Infosys was up 1.7% and Wipro was up 1.1%. In the Banking space, HDFC Bank was down 3% and ICICI Bank was down 2.3%. In other space, Tata Motors was up 0.04%, and Sterlite was down 1.7%.
Tomorrow's economic data will be weekly initial claims and June durable orders to be reported at 8:30 ET. On the earnings front, 3M and Colgate-Palmolive will report their results before the opening bell.
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