US stocks ended with moderate gains at Wall Street on Monday, 15 July 2013. Better than expected earning report from Citigroup helped stocks register gains. Gains were under check due to weaker than expected earning report at Wall Street.
For the day, The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 19.96 points, or 0.1%, to 15,484.26. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 7.41 points, or 0.2%, to 3,607.49. The S&P 500 index climbed 2.31 points, or 0.1%, to 1,682.50, rising for an eighth consecutive session.
Financials provided the broader market with an opening boost after Citigroup reported better-than-expected earnings on above-consensus revenue. Citigroup rose 2.0%.
Technology shares also outperformed the broader market as major components provided the sector with a measure of support. Apple, IBM and Microsoft all gained between 0.2% and 1.4%.
Dow component Boeing shares rose 3.7%, regaining a large chunk of Friday's losses, after British investigators reportedly found no evidence that batteries caused a fire on one of the manufacturer's 787 planes.
The highly anticipated China second-quarter gross domestic product report, released Monday, showed an as-expected annual growth rate of 7.5%. China GDP has decreased slightly for the second quarter in a row. China industrial output rose by 8.9% on an annual basis in June, which was slightly below expectations. Asian stock markets posted modest gains on the China data, while the precious metals were also slightly supported by the data.
The world market place is starting to look ahead to Wednesday's appearance by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before the U.S. House of Representatives, where he will report on U.S. monetary policy and the economy. Traders hope the Fed chief will offer fresh clues on when the Fed will start to back off on its monthly bond-buying program (quantitative easing).
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, fell by 2% on Monday.
Among economic data expected at Wall Street today, data of the day pointed to a 0.4% increase in June retail sales. That was below the consensus estimate, which called for an increase of 0.7%. Excluding autos, retail sales were flat, which was disappointing relative to the 0.4% consensus estimate. Separately, May business inventories ticked up 0.1% after increasing 0.2% in April. The consensus expected inventory levels to decline 0.1%.
Crude-oil prices ended higher on Monday, 15 July 2013 at Nymex. Prices rose as traders mulled the outlook for energy demand against a backdrop of second-quarter economic growth in China and a rise in July New York manufacturing conditions. Light and sweet crude for August ended higher by $0.37 (0.4%) at $106.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.
Bullion metal prices ended moderately higher on Monday, 15 July 2013 at Comex. Gold prices ended higher as traders weighed financial woes in the euro zone and looked ahead to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony later this week. Some weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data also helped to lift gold and silver prices.
Gold for August delivery ended higher by $5.9 (0.5%) at $1,283.5 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. September silver ended higher by $0.05 (0.2%) at $19.84 an ounce on Monday.
More than 567 million shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Composite volume topped 2.57 billion.
Tomorrow, June CPI and core CPI will be reported at 8:30 ET; May net long-term TIC flows will be announced at 9:00 ET; while June industrial production and capacity utilization will be released at 9:15 ET. The day's economic data will be topped off by the 10:00 ET release of the July NAHB Housing Market Index. On the earnings front, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, and Johnson & Johnson will report their results before the opening bell.
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