For the day, the Dow ended higher by 59.75 points (0.45%) at 13,311.72. Nasdaq ended higher by 6.02 points (0.2%) at 3,050.38. S&P 500 ended higher by 7.88 points (0.55%) at 1,43.69.
Among the ten economic sectors, the financial, telecom and materials sectors remained strong. Technology and consumer discretionary sectors remained weak. Majority of Dow components ended higher led by Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase.
Attention of the market place remains on the U.S. "fiscal cliff" tax increases and spending cuts that is fast approaching. The market place still reckons odds are higher than not that there will be a last-minute agreement among U.S. lawmakers to avoid the fiscal cliff. The overall situation has been a bearish drag on many markets, including the raw commodities and stock markets.
Investors appeared to be less willing to take on risk on Thursday amid an apparent impasse in negotiations to avert the so-called fiscal cliff � hundreds of billions in automatic tax hikes and across-the-board spending cuts that would take effect in 2013.
The House was scheduled to vote late Thursday on a Republican-authored bill to raise taxes on Americans earning more than $1 million a year, in a bid to increase pressure on President Barack Obama in fiscal-cliff negotiations.
In overnight news, the Bank of Japan announced another monetary stimulus plan Thursday, which was not unexpected.
The dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, fell by 0.06% on Thursday. It remained weak for the entire day but pared some of its weakness while going into close.
Among economic data expected for the day at Wall Street, the Commerce Department in US reported on Thursday, 20 December 2012 that the U.S. economy grew more quickly than previously stated in the July-to-September quarter due to stronger trade, faster health-care spending and increased local government construction. The report stated that the third-quarter gross domestic product grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.1% in the third quarter, which is the fastest rate of growth since the 4.1% pickup in the final quarter of 2011. The GDP numbers were well ahead of the government's initial estimate of 2% growth or even its most recent tally of 2.7%. Market had anticipated a 2.9% reading in the third and final estimate.
The Labor Department said on Thursday that first-time jobless claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 361,000 in the week ended Dec. 15, versus a slightly upwardly revised 344,000 in the prior week. That's almost exactly in line with the consensus of 360,000. Claims have fallen sharply from the 451,000 in early November after Hurricane Sandy hit, and by now the hurricane impact looks to be absent.
Existing home sales for November hit an annualized rate of 5.04 million units, which was stronger than the rate of 4.90 million units that had been generally expected. The pace for November was up from the prior month's revised rate of 4.76 million units.
Separately, the latest Housing Price Index from the FHFA was also released. For November, the Index increased by 0.5%, which follows a 0.2% increase observed during the prior month. Also, the Philadelphia Fed Survey ticked up to +8.1 for December. This comes after November's reading of -10.7. Market had expected that the Survey would improve to a reading of -1.3.
In M&A news, IntercontinentalExchange said it would acquire NYSE Euronext for $8.2 billion in stock and cash.
In earnings area, Discover Financial slid 3.4% following mixed earnings. Technology consultant Accenture slid 2.0% after reporting its quarterly results. While the company beat on earnings, its revenue reflected a slowdown in corporate spending.
Among other stocks under focus, technology stocks lagged the broader market and Apple lost 0.9%. Merck shed 3.4% after its trial for TREDAPTIVE yielded disappointing results.
Bullion metals extended substantially lower for another straight day on Thursday, 20 December 2012. A batch of fresh U.S. economic data Thursday that was stronger than expected helped to pressure the precious metals. Prices fell despite a weak dollar. Gold and silver markets sold off sharply on Thursday morning in the immediate aftermath of the release of U.S. third-quarter GDP data. That report was followed by other U.S. economic data on Thursday that was also stronger than expected, which prompted gold and silver to extend their already sharp daily losses.
Gold for February delivery fell $21.8 (1.3%) to settle at $1,645.9 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday. Gold fell to three and half month low figures. Prices have shed almost 3% till now this week. On Thursday, March silver fell $1.44, or 4.6%, to settle at $29.68 an ounce. Silver has shed almost 8% in last five trading sessions.
Crude oil prices ended higher for fifth straight day on Thursday, 20 December 2012 at Nymex. On Thursday, light and sweet crude oil futures for light sweet crude for February delivery closed higher by $0.15 (0.2%) at $90.13/barrel. Prices fell to a low of $89.26 during intra day trading.
Around 682 million shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Composite volume topped 3.6 billion.
Indian ADRs ended mostly higher on Thursday. In the Banking space, ICICI Bank was up 0.5% and HDFC Bank rose 1.8%. In the IT space, Infosys was up 0.1% and Wipro was up 0.7%. In the Telecom space, MTNL gained 5.4% and Tata Communication was down 0.2%. In the other space, Sterlite was up 1.1%, Tata Motors was up 0.4%. Dr Reddys was up 1.1%.
For tomorrow, in terms of economic data, November personal income, personal spending, core PCE prices, durable orders, and durable orders ex-transportation will all be reported at 8:30 ET. Lastly, the final December Michigan Sentiment Survey will be released at 9:55 ET. To mention that quadruple witching will take place tomorrow. Earning reports will continue to trickle in.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
