Stocks reversed a six-day losing streak by closing with modest gains, Thursday, buoyed by bullish manufacturing data from the EU and China as well as upbeat US economic data. Retail stocks, however, had another rough day as a result of weak earnings from Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and Sears (SHLD).
Of course, the headline news was the three-hour halt in Nasdaq trading, but the tech-heavy Index ultimately ended higher.
The economic data was mostly positive including initial jobless claims which rose by a greater than expected 13,000 to 336,000. The four-week average, however, fell to a seven-year low. The August Markit PMI of 53.9 beat estimates of 53.5, as did the June house price index which showed a 0.7% gain versus the consensus estimate of a 0.6% gain. Finally, leading indicators rose 0.6%, above forecasts for a 0.5% increase.
Here's Where The Markets Stood At The Close
US MARKETS- Dow Jones Industrial Index was up 66.12 (+0.44%) to 14,963.67
- S&P 500 was up 14.15 (+0.86%) to 1,656.95
- Nasdaq Composite Index was up 38.92 (+1.08%) to 3,638.71
- FTSE 100 is up 0.88%
- Nikkei 225 was down 0.44%
- Hang Seng Index was up 0.36%
- Shanghai China Composite Index was down 0.28%
- GME - Reported strong Q2 earnings and upbeat FY14 forecast
- YHOO - Industry report shows Yahoo online traffic beat Google
- RGDO - Stock rallies to $4.93 after 10.7 million share IPO at $4
- ANF - Q2 earnings of $0.14 fell far short of $0.28 estimates, revenue also below estimates
- HPQ - Reported an 8% drop in Q3 sales
- SHLD - Reported greater than expected Q2 loss of $1.46 per share, revenue in line with estimates
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