U.S. stocks rallied in early session echoing big gains in global equity markets
An early-morning rally on Wall Street lost steam toward the end of the session, on Thursday, 09 July 2015 with the main indexes closing only modestly higher on Thursday. U.S. stocks rallied in early session echoing big gains in global equity markets. But then trading on Thursday was much more muted with volumes slightly lower than usual, a day after Wall Street trading session was marked by a 3 1/2-hour halt on the New York Stock Exchange due to a technical issue.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average relinquished most of a 260-point gain, ending 33.20 points, or 0.2%, higher at 17,548.62. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day with a gain of 12.64 points, or 0.3% at 4,922.40. The S&P 500 closed 4.61 points, or 0.2%, higher at 2,051.31.
Equity indices charged out of the gate after the overnight session featured a rebound in China's Shanghai Composite, which climbed 5.8%. The advance occurred as officials in China continued introducing measures aimed at halting the recent market plunge.
With the Q2 earnings season about to heat up, investors received the first few reports with Alcoa climbing 0.9% after reporting a bottom-line miss on better than expected revenue. The company reaffirmed its global aluminum demand growth forecast of 6.0%.
Economic data was limited to weekly Initial Claims, which increased to 297,000 for the week ending July 4 from an upwardly revised 282,000 (from 281,000) while the consensus expected a decrease to 276,000. Today's reading represented the highest level since the end of February when claims briefly surpassed 300,000. The Department of Labor reported that there were no special factors that impacted the latest claims reading, but it is possible that the Independence Day holiday factored into the increase.
Bullion prices ended higehr on Thursday, 09 July 2015 at Comex. Gold futures lost ground on Thursday as investors turned much of their attention to a rally in U.S. equities.
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Gold for August delivery fell $4.30, or 0.4%, to close at $1,159.20 an ounce on Comex after hitting a low under $1,156 overnight. Prices had settled $10.90 higher on Wednesday at $1,163.50, after a more-than-$20 drop on Tuesday.
On Comex, September silver extended its gain from a day earlier, tacking on 20 cents, or 1.3%, to finish at $15.361 an ounce. Demand for silver has been growing and the U.S. Mint recently announced that it has sold out of American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins.
The U.S. ICE Dollar, a measure of the dollar's strength against a basket of rival currencies, nudged a bit higher, which may also be putting pressure on dollar-denominated gold.
China's stock market rallied sharply on Thursday, in part due to the Chinese government forcibly propping up the market and squelching equities sellers. This somewhat assuaged market worry regarding the world's second-largest economyat least for today.
Negotiations between Greece and the EU/IMF are continuing this week with still no deal reached. Greece wants a new three-year bailout package as its banks are running out of cash. European Central Bank officials are now being quoted as saying odds have increased that Greece will exit the European Monetary System. Greece must come up with an EU-acceptable plan by Sunday. European stock markets were higher on Thursday, as the Greece matter is becoming old hat.
The Bank of England as expected kept its monetary policy steady at its latest regular meeting on Thursday.
Today's participation was ahead of average with more than 800 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
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