Flat finish for US stocks

Best Buy shares gain 6.3% recouping most of previous session's loss

The U.S. stock market finished roughly flat on Wednesday, 27 August 2014 with the S&P 500 staying around 2,000 a day after it closed over that milestone for the first time. With no major U.S. economic reports on tap, traders instead focused on a rebound by Best Buy shares, the latest Apple gadgets and earnings reports from Tiffany & Co. and other companies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15.31 points, or 0.1%, to end at 17,122.01. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 1.02 points, or less than 0.1%, to 4,569.62. The tech-heavy index snapped a four-day winning streak. The S&P 500 edged up 0.10 point to 2,000.12 for its 31st record close this year.

Equity indices opened with slim gains, but were quick to return to their flat lines as most sectors traded little changed

The market place was again subdued on Wednesday, with no major worldwide economic data released and with no major headline news developments. Lackluster markets activity could persist the rest of this week, ahead of the unofficial end of summer that comes with the approaching U.S. Labor Day holiday weekend.

European bond yields continued to edge lower Wednesday, with the key German 10-year bund hitting a record low yield of 0.92%. French, Italian and Spanish bond yields also fell to record lows on Wednesday. Weak economic data coming out of the European Union this week, combined with the recent dovish comments from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, suggest quantitative easing of EU monetary policy is coming from the ECB soon.

Among stocks under focus, Best Buy was the biggest winner in the S&P 500, rising 6.3% and recouping most of Tuesday's 6.9% loss. Analysts at B. Riley & Co. said the retailer's seemingly gloomy holiday guidance is actually better than it appears.

Tiffany & Co. was another notable winner in the S&P 500 after the jeweler lifted its full-year earnings forecast and reported a 16% rise in second-quarter profit. Tiffany closed up 1%.

Economic data was limited to the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, which rose 2.8% to follow last week's uptick of 1.4%

Apple finished up 1.2% at another all-time closing high. The tech giant is developing a new iPad with a larger screen,

Bullion metals ended mixed on Wednesday, 27 August 2014 at Comex. Gold finished slightly lower on Wednesday as the focus remained on stocks in the wake of the S&P 500's first-ever close above 2,000.

Gold for December delivery settled down $1.80, or 0.1%, at $1,283.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. September silver finished up nearly 2 cents, or 0.1%, at just below $19.41 an ounce.

Crude-oil futures ended slightly higher on Wednesday, 27 August 2014 at Nymex with the weekly U.S. supply report showing a decline in stockpiles that was marginally below expectations.

Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in October rose 2 cents, less than 0.1%, to settle at $93.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures are up for two straight sessions.

In the latest EIA report, the Energy Information Administration earlier Wednesday reported that U.S. oil supplies declined 2.1 million barrels in the week ended 22 August 2014. EIA also reported that gasoline supplies decreased by 1 million barrel, and distillates stockpiles rose 1.3 million barrels. Market had expected crude supplies to fall 2.5 million barrels. Gasoline stocks were seen down 1.7 million barrels, while distillate stocks were expected to decline 1.2 million barrels.

While no major U.S. economic reports came out Wednesday, the data calender gets busier later this week.Tomorrow, weekly Initial Claims (consensus 302,000) and the second estimate of Q2 GDP (expected 4.0%) will be released at 8:30 ET, while the Pending Home Sales report for July (consensus 0.5%) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News