Investing.com – Wall Street moved higher on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq marking a record intraday high and the S&P hovering just below, while all the lack of movement in stocks continued to be compensated by another wild swing in oil prices.
At 16:03GMT, or 12:03ET, the Dow 30 gained 23 points, or 0.13%, the S&P 500 rose 6 points, or 0.30%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded up 19 points, or 0.36%.
Trade continued to be light in equities with NYSE volume near the year’s low with experts pointing to summer vacation as well as caution ahead of Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Janet Yellen’s speech at Jackson Hole on Friday as the main culprits for the lack of movement. The S&P 500 hasn’t closed with a 1% move since July 8.
As evidence of the lack of movement, not only has the S&P 500 not had a close with a 1% move in either direction since July 8, but only five days out the last 30 saw the global equity benchmark move by more than 0.5%, the lowest since the fall of 1995.
The dollar was lower against most of the major currencies on Tuesday, including the yen, euro and pound, as markets looked ahead to Yellen’s appearance in the hopes that it could shed light on the timing of a U.S interest rate hike.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.03% to 94.49 by 16:05GMT, or 12:05ET, pulling back from the prior session's high of 94.94 but still keeping distance from last week's eight-week low of 94.05.
Data was mixed on Tuesday with July new home sales blew past consensus with its largest rise since October 2007.
However, Markit’s preliminary manufacturing PMI for August showed that activity in the sector slowed more than expected.
Still, the research group’s chief economist Chris Williamson pointed to the fact that, taken with the data from July, the third quarter was showing the best growth so far this year.
“Policymakers will therefore be pleased to see signs that the economy may have picked up speed in the third quarter, but the Fed looks unlikely to tighten policy again until the upturn has stronger foundations, suggesting any interest rate rise looks unlikely before December,” Williamson concluded.
According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, investors are pricing in an 18% chance of a rate hike by September, up from 12% at the start of last week before several Fed officials declared that an increase was on the table for the next meeting. December odds had slipped back to 48.8%, barely passing the 50% threshold for the February 2017 meeting.
Meanwhile, oil prices staged an impressive turnaround, swinging more than a dollar as hopes for an agreement among major oil producers to stabilize production resurfaced.
All the volatility lacking in equities in the last 30 days could be found in U.S. crude with the barrel of West Texas Intermediate chalking up a move of less than 1% in either direction on only five occasions.
Early losses spurred by a Goldman Sachs report pointing to the fact that a “production freeze would also likely prove self-defeating” vanished on Tuesday as a Reuters report cited sources stating that Iran was willing to join in on OPEC action to stabilize markets.
The euphoria wiped out the losses that had taken West Texas and Brent to an intraday low of $46.62 and $48.49, respectively, despite indications from other Reuter’s sources that admitted that even if there was an agreement, producers would not commit to sticking to it.
U.S. crude futures gained 0.57% to $47.69 by 16:03GMT, or 12:03ET, while Brent oil traded up 0.90% to $49.60.
Amid a handful of companies reporting earnings, Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) jumped more than 18% after the electronic retailer recorded a surprise jump in comparable sales.
Daktronics Inc (NASDAQ:DAKT) soared close to 20% after the manufacturer of computer-programmable display systems beat expectations for its fiscal first quarter earnings.
Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE:TOL) jumped nearly 5% as the luxury home builder reported a 23.5% increase in revenue.
On the downside, Zoe's Kitchen Inc (NYSE:ZOES) plunged more than 19% as the restaurant chain’s second quarter revenue disappointed.
JM Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) tumbled more than 8% as the expectations for continued weakness in its pet food sales forced it cut its annual guidance.
Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) would be in the earnings spotlight after the market close.
Outside of earnings, Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) gained more than 2% on a report that its conversations to be acquired by Bayer (DE:BAYGN) were progressing satisfactorily.