Wall Street ended Wednesday little changed in thin trading ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial (INDEXDJX:.DJI) inched up a point to 17,813 while the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) was little changed at 2,089, with both indexes fading near the close as traders closed positions ahead of the holiday period.
The Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) rose 0.3%, or 13 points, to 5,116.
Concerns about the repercussions from the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey on Tuesday abated on Wednesday.
A host of data suggested the U.S. economy was growing modestly. Data showed claims for jobless benefits retreated more than expected to 260,000 last week, while durable goods orders for October, excluding aircraft, increased 1.3%, far more than the 0.4% expected.
LUNCHTIME TRADING
Investors were giving thanks for a fairly full set of economic data that distracted attention from potential conflict between Russia and Turkey.
Inflation, spending, services, manufacturing and employment numbers were all released today.
“With such a raft of important figures released in one day, it was always going to be difficult to ascertain one single message from the data. Yet with US services activity rising to a seven-month peak, core durable goods at a three-month high and jobless claims at the lowest level in a month, there is no doubt that the US economy is moving in the right direction,” suggested Josh Mahony at spread betting firm IG Index.
“Unfortunately, the issue of inflation is likely to remain a crucial issue, with the Fed’s favored measure, the core PCE [personal consumer expenditure] price index, failing to grow for the first time in ten months. Given that this measure strips out food and energy factors, it is clear that the world is living within a period where disinflation may not solely be attributed to the price of oil,” Mahony speculated.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 28 points, or 0.2%, at 17,841 in lunchtime trading, while progress for the broader-based S&P 500 was even more pedestrian, with the benchmark up 0.1% at 2,092.
The Nasdaq Composite showed both a clean pair of heels, rising 18 points, or 0.3%, to 5,121.
Attention was on Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HP) after the demerger of its Cloud and enterprise business, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE).
The latter is up 2.2% but shocking quarterly sales figures released last night by the former had the share price off by more than 13%.
As usual, the eye-catching gains are to be found among the lesser-known names such as Computer Programs and Systems (NASDAQ:CPSI), which shot up by about one-sixth after it revealed it is to acquire Healthland Holdings for US$250mln.
The acquisition will strengthen the information technology company's position in the healthcare information solutions market.
Elsewhere in the sector, Baxalta (NYSE:BXLT) was wanted on reports London-listed Shire (LON:SHP) is preparing a renewed takeover bid. Baxalta shares nudged up 0.5%.
Across the US border in Canada, the S&P/TSE Composite index has recovered from a shaky start to climb 50 points to 13,458.
Wall Street open
US stocks opened on the front foot ahead of tomorrow's Thanksgiving Day holiday.
Investors turned their backs on tensions between Turkey and Russia, focusing instead of US economic data.
“Sentiment towards the US economy received an uplift following an impressive decline in jobless claims which pointed to a recovery in economic momentum in the United States. This was complimented by the core durable goods results which hit expectations at 0.5%, giving more reasons for the Fed to raise US interest rates in December,” wrote Lukman Otunuga, an analyst at FXTM.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 24 points, or 0.1%, at 17,836, while progress for the broader-based S&P 500 was equally tentative, with the benchmark up 0.1% at 2,091.
The Nasdaq Composite had a bit more vim and vigor, rising 14 points, or 0.3%, to 5,117.
As usual, the eye-catching gains are to be found among the lesser-known names such as Computer Programs and Systems (NASDAQ:CPSI), which shot up by about one-sixth after it revealed it is to acquire Healthland Holdings for US$250mln.
The acquisition will strengthen the information technology company's position in the healthcare information solutions market.
Investors bailed from Spanish renewable energy firm Abengoa (NASDAQ:ABGB) after it said it is filing for preliminary protection from its creditors, which is usually the first stage in the descent into bankruptcy.
The American Depositary Shares halved in value.
Across the US border in Canada, the S&P/TSE Composite index has shed six points at 13,401.
Pre-open
With Middle East tensions easing just a tad, markets are expected to open in positive territory.
Europe acted as a pathfinder, with the FTSE 100 up just under 1% in early afternoon trade, while in Germany the DAX added 1.5% and France’s CAC-40 rose 1.4%.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is set for a modest 35 point rise on open to 17,800, according to futures trading, while the broader-based S&P 500 will mirror this rather tentative start.
The market isn’t anticipating a great deal that will move the dial from the day’s economic news, with data expected on durable goods, jobs and crude inventories.
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The oil price eased back after back 1.5% to just with a barrel of Brent crude changing hands for just over US$46 a barrel.
It follows Tuesday’s sharp rise in the wake of a downing of Russian fighter on the Turkey-Syria border, which ratcheted up testosterone levels.
Gold, a haven in times of uncertainty, was little changed early on at US$1,074.30.