Investors digest a mixed batch of economic reports
U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday, 16 April 2015 following a session of slight gains and declines as investors digested a mixed batch of economic reports and Federal Reserve speakers in light of a stream of better-than-expected earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average which was up as high as 57 points on the session, closed down 6.84 points at 18,105.77. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite retreated 3.23 points to close at 5,007.79. The S&P 500 index declined 1.64 points to finish at 2,104.99, with seven out of the indexes 10 major sectors declining, led by utilities and telecom stocks.
About two-thirds of the blue-chip indexes's 30 components closed lower.
Meanwhile, An 18% rally in Netflix shares helped support the tech heavy index.
Greek government bonds plunged Thursday, sending the yield on the country's two-year debt above 27%. Greece is in danger of running out of cash if bailout money from its international creditors isn't released soon. But talks on extending the country's aid program continue to drag on.
The dollar declined after a batch of downbeat economic data. U.S. initial jobless claims for the second week of April rose to the highest level in six weeks. March housing starts, meanwhile, rebounded slightly, while the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index in April showed a mild improvement.
Construction starts rose to annual rate of 926,000 in March, while a report of people seeking new U.S. unemployment benefits in the second week of April rose to the highest level in six weeks. Initial jobless claims rose to 294,000 in the week ended April 11, from a revised 282,000 from the week prior. A reading of manufacturing also looked strong, with the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index rising to 7.5 in April, better than estimates of 6. Any reading above zero signals improving conditions for manufacturing.
Corporate results on Thursday, however, have largely been upbeat. Goldman Sachs Group reported profit and revenue ahead of forecasts, but shares closed down 0.4%.
Citigroup posted first-quarter results that beat analysts expectations for profits but missed on revenues.Shares closed up 1.5%. Also reporting ahead of the bell, UnitedHealth Group raised its outlook for 2015 earnings to $6.15 to $6.30 per share.
Bullion prices ended mixed on Thursday, 16 April 2015. Gold held their ground near the key $1,200-an-ounce level, finding some support from weakness in the U.S. dollar as investors mulled the latest batch of U.S. economic data and developments tied to debt woes in Greece.
Gold for June delivery on Comex fell $3.30, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,198 an ounce after tapping an intraday low of $1,194.30. May silver added a half cent to $16.284 an ounce.
Crude-oil futures shook off earlier weakness on Thursday, 16 April 2015 to tally a six-session gain of more than 12% as a smaller-than-expected weekly rise in U.S. crude supplies was seen as a possible sign of a slowdown in U.S. production. Traders also digested details of the latest monthly oil report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which included expectations for an increase in demand for the oil the group produces.
May crude tacked on 32 cents or 0.6%, to settle at $56.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchangea fresh high for the year.
Today's participation was in-line with recent averages as roughly 740 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Tomorrow, March CPI (consensus 0.3%) will be reported at 8:30 ET while March Leading Indicators (expected 0.3%) and the preliminary reading of the Michigan Sentiment Index for April (expected 94.0) will be released at 10:00 ET.
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