Reply #38: End of the day. [View All]

Dow 12,866.78 Up 52.43 (0.41%)
Nasdaq 2,451.24 Up 12.75 (0.52%)
S&P 500 1,397.68 Up 5.11 (0.37%)
10-Yr Bond 3.805% Down 0.062
NYSE Volume 3,827,561,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,100,801,250

4:30 pm : Trading in the stock market was largely range-bound Thursday. The S&P 500 bounced between the unchanged mark and 1400, which has been a key level among technical traders, but still finished the session with decent gains.

Positive sales data from a handful of key retailers lent some initial support to market participants, but the data was largely dismissed after the opening bell.

Wal-Mart (WMT 57.16, +0.33), Costco (COST 71.20, -0.88), BJ's Wholesale (BJ 37.73, -1.21), and Target (TGT 52.34, -1.10) all reported positive same-store sales growth for April. Specifically, Wal-Mart reported a 3.2% increase, excluding fuel sales, Costco and BJ's announced an 8.0% and 17.8% increase, respectively. Target noted that its 3.1% increase was slightly below its expectations.

Several noteworthy apparel and accessories retailers posted declining same-store sales for April. Nordstrom (JWN 34.67, -0.82), Limited Brands (LTD 17.93, +0.31), and Gap (GPS 17.84, -0.40) all reported a downturn.

News Corp (NWS.A 19.68, +0.48) offered a positive update upon announcing third quarter results after yesterday's close. The media giant reported earnings of $0.91 per share for the quarter, up from $0.29 per share the year before. News Corp's latest results were helped by a $1.7 billion gain related to a stock and asset exchange with Liberty Media.

Jobless claims for the week ending May 3 totaled 365,000. The consensus estimate called for 370,000 claims. Jobless claims for the prior week were revised slightly higher to 383,000 from 380,000. Notably, the four-week average has increased to 367,000 from 364,500, but remains below levels typically associated with a recession.

Wholesale inventories for March declined 0.1%, which is less than the 0.5% increase that economists forecast. February's inventories increased 0.9%, down from the 1.1% increase initially reported.

The materials sector (+2.3%) was the best performing economic sector in the S&P 500. Particular strength was exhibited by Alcoa (AA 39.65, +1.56) and Freeport-McMoRan (FCX 118.07, +3.71).

The energy sector (+1.9%) also finished with a solid gain after crude set an all-time intraday high of $124.61 per barrel. Oil companies Exxon Mobil (XOM 89.93, +1.11) and Chevron (CVX 97.44, +2.16) were among the leaders.

Financial companies were down noticeably. Bank of America (BAC 37.33, -0.67) and AIG (AIG 44.15, -0.93) were the primary laggards.

Thursday's choppy trading prompted buying in government Treasuries. The benchmark 10-year Treasury Note traded 27 ticks higher, lowering its yield to 3.78%.DJ30 +52.43 NASDAQ +12.75 SP500 +5.11 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1307/1482/2.09 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1295/1802/1.21 bln