Stocks finished mixed, with the benchmark S&P advancing for the seventh consecutive day for the first time in over six years as upbeat economic data overshadowed a sharp decline in Apple due to a drop in iphone sales.
The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims dropped last week to 330,000, a five-year low, and well-below the consensus forecast of 355,000 claims.
The Conference Board’s index of U.S. leading indicators rose in December by the most in 3 months, +0.5%; topping economists’ projection of a rise of 0.4%. The reading indicates that the world’s largest economy is poised to keep growing through the first half of this year.
Corporate earnings have helped drive the recent rally in equities. According to Thomson Reuters, of the 133 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings, 66.9% have topped expectations, outpacing the 65% average over the past four quarters.
Have a good Thursday night!
Market Indices/Statistics:
- Dow closed up 46.00 pts/+0.33% to 13,825.33; 20 of the 30 Dow stocks closed higher
- S&P closed up 0.01 pts/+0.00% to 1,494.82; 8 of the 10 S&P 500 sectors closed higher
- Nasdaq closed down 23.29 pts/-0.74% to 3,130.38
- Consumer Services was the most positive sector (+0.70%) while Technology was the weakest (-2.48%)
- The VIX ended up 0.23 to 12.69
- Oil is up $0.81 to $96.03
- Nat Gas closed down $0.082 to $3.471
- Gold is down $19.50 to $1,667.20
- Euro vs. Dollar is up 0.0060 to $1.3376
- Yen vs. Dollar is up $1.83 at $90.43
Top Headlines:
3M (MMM, +$0.18/+0.18% to $99.67) is merging its security and traffic-safety units, a shift that will result in the elimination about 300 jobs, CEO, Thulin told investors on a conference call to discuss Q4 earnings.
Amazon.com (AMZN, +$5.70/+2.13% to $273.62) has acquired text-to-speech technology company, Ivona Software, signaling that the world's largest Internet retailer may be looking to develop more services similar to Apple’s (AAPL, -$64.76/-12.60% to $450.50) Siri voice-based search product.
President Barack Obama is expected to nominate Mary Jo White to lead the SEC, appointing an attorney with broad experience in prosecuting white-collar crimes to lead an agency that has a central role in implementing Wall Street reform. A White House official said the president will announce White's nomination during a ceremony Thursday afternoon in the State Dining Room.
Nokia (NOK, -$0.38/-8.19% to $4.26 ) plans to cancel its annual dividend payment for the first time in the company's recorded history to shore up its cash position against falling sales and buy time for a turnaround.
Earnings:
AT&T (T) reports Q4 EPS of $0.44, misses estimates by $0.02 and revenue of $32.58B, beats estimates by $360M
Juniper Networks (JNPR) reports Q4 EPS of $0.28, beats estimates by $0.06 and revenue of $1.14B, beats estimates by $10M
Starbucks (SBUX) reports FQ1 EPS of $0.57, in-line with estimates and revenue of $3.80B, misses estimates by $4M
Microsoft (MSFT) reports FQ2 EPS of $0.76, beats estimates by $0.01 and revenue of $21.46B, misses estimates by $70M
Coming Friday:
Economic Reports: New Home Sales (Est. 385k) 10:00am, New Home Sales MoM (2.1%) 10:00am.
Earnings: Covidian (Est. 1.06), Haliburton (Est. $0.61), Honeywell International (Est. $1.09), Kimberly Clark (Est. $1.35), Moog Inc. (Est. $0.82), Oshkosh Corp (Est. $0.31).
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