Market reaction to mostly disappointing economic reports was muted
US stocks ended with moderate gains on Wednesday, 26 November 2014 at Wall Street. The major averages ended the session near their best levels of the day with the Nasdaq Composite finishing in the lead. Market reaction to mostly disappointing economic reports was muted, as much of the data were shrugged off as volatile and in some cases backward looking. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average ended slightly higher on Wednesday, scoring their 47th and 30th record closes this year, respectively.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 12.81 points, or 0.1%, to 17,827.75. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day up 29.07 points, or 0.6% at 4,787.32. The S&P 500 closed 5.74 points, or 0.3%, higher at 2,072.77.
Trading on Wall Street was thin with many participants taking off early for the Thanksgiving holiday. Markets will reopen on Friday for a shortened session ending at 1 p.m.
Gains were led by telecoms and technology sector stocks, but a big drop in energy companies' shares capped the advance. Energy sector stocks sold off due to falling oil prices, driven by concerns about what the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will do about oil oversupplies.
A fairly heavy slate of U.S. economic data released Wednesday did not move the markets much, as U.S. traders had their minds on a Thanksgiving feast on Thursday.
Economic reports on Wednesday were mostly disappointing. Weekly jobless claims spiked to the highest level in 11 weeks, in a sign that hiring may have slowed down a bit. Consumer spending climbed by less than expected in October, while inflation remained below the Federal Reserve's target rate of 2%. Durable-goods orders rose, but thanks largely to orders for military aircraft.
In overnight news, a European Central Bank official hinted the ECB could begin buying government bonds (quantitative easing) early in 2015. The ECB vice president's remarks were a bit disappointing to those market watchers who thought the ECB might make the move at its meeting on 4 December 2014.
A German government 10-year bond auction on Wednesday fetched a record low yield that averaged 0.74%. This underscores investors in Europe continue to be skittish about the European Union economy and are content to be safe with low-yielding German bonds.
The market place is looking ahead to Thursday's OPEC meeting. Some believe the beleaguered oil cartel could reduce its overall daily oil production quota, or at least call for strict adherence to existing quotas, most of which are ignored by OPEC nations.
Gold prices edged down on Wednesday, 26 November 2014 in muted, pre-Thanksgiving trade, catching their breath after a solid advance so far this month. A dearth of bullish fundamental news recently and a bearish chart posture are keeping gold prices on the defensive. U.S. trading activity wound down as the day progressed Wednesday, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Typically, Friday finds one of the lightest-volume trading days of the year for U.S. markets.
December gold finished down 50 cents, or less than 0.1%, at $1,196.60 an ounce, continuing to hold below the key $1,200 level. It's up 2.1% in the month to date, having dipped just 0.1% so far in this holiday-shortened week.
December silver settled unchanged at $16.55 an ounce.
Crude-oil futures extended their slide on Wednesday, 26 October 2014 at Nymex ending at a four-year low on expectations the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries won't move to significantly cut oil production.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January declined 40 cents to close at $73.69 a barrel.
Earlier, the Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.9 million barrels last week, defying forecasts for a 100,000 barrel drop.
Treasuries spiked following today's data, but slipped into the close. The 10-yr yield ended lower by a basis point at 2.24%.
Intraday participation was well below average, but volume spiked into the close. As a result, just under 685 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Equity markets will be closed tomorrow and Friday's session will end early at 13:00 ET.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
