Technology stock earnings results helped the markets close higher on Thursday's trade after mixed economic data failed to push the markets up to new highs. The Dow fell from the psychological 12,000 mark it had touched Wednesday, the highest since June 2008.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.04% to close at 11,989.83. The blue-chip index's gains were checked by disappointing results from AT&T ATT and P&G PG. The S&P 500 gained 0.22% to end the day at 1,299.54. The tech-laden Nasdaq jumped 0.58% and closed at 2,755.28. On the New York Stock Exchange, breadth of the market was on the positive side as for every 1,673 stocks that rose, 1,312 stocks ended in the red. On the New York Stock Exchange 7.6 billion shares were traded.
Coming to economic news, a report from the Labor Department said weekly jobless claims surged 51,000 to 454,000 which exceeds the economists' expectations by a wide margin. The figures for the weekly initial claims are the highest level recorded since late October. The report said the surge was possibly because of heavy snowfall across the country, which slowed down the processing of claims. The Commerce Department reported slipping numbers for Durable Orders. Durable Orders fell 2.5% against expectations of a 1.5% rise. In other major economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported better than expected pending home sales results which rose to 2% in December against an expected decrease of 0.5%. On Thursday, the U.S Treasury carried on with its auctioning of $29 billion, seven year Treasury Notes with a yield of 2.744.
On the international front, investors seemed to be worried after S&P's decision to cut Japan's credit rating. Reacting to the news, the Japanese yen fell almost 1% against the dollar.
On to news of earnings and estimates, shares of movie rental company Netflix Inc NFLX jumped 15.2% to $210.87 after the company posted better than expected results and projected an improved outlook. Electronics test equipment maker Teradyne Inc's TER share prices rose 11.8% to end the day at $16.35. Microsoft MSFT posted earnings results ahead of analyst's expectations causing share prices of the software giant to rise 0.3%. Procter & Gamble PG share prices fell 2.9% to $64.18 after the company reported a loss of 28% on its second quarter profits, year-over-year, because of increasing commodity costs. The world's largest selling toothpaste-maker Colgate-Palmolive's CL share prices decreased 3.3% after the company's fourth quarter earnings fell 1.1% because of higher costs. The company's forecast for the third quarter is also well below analysts' expectations. Telecom giant AT&T's ATT share prices fell 2.09% to $28.13 after it reported its earnings results during the day. Though revenues came in below expectations, the company's earnings were slightly ahead of analysts' expectations. Share prices of Caterpillar CAT increased 0.9% after the company reported fourth quarter earnings results which saw a rise in profits because of increased demand.
On a sectoral basis, technology stocks led the rally. Stocks such as General Electric GE and United Technologies UTX led the blue-chip index higher. Share prices of General Electric GE rose 1.81% to $20.28 and share prices of United Technology UTX rose 1.18%. Share prices of material companies fell. Newmont Mining NEM, Freeport-McMoran FCX and Cliffs Natural Resources CLF lost 2.94%, 2.41% and 2.82% respectively.
CATERPILLAR INC (CAT): Free Stock Analysis Report
COLGATE PALMOLI (CL): Free Stock Analysis Report
CLIFFS NATURAL (CLF): Free Stock Analysis Report
FREEPT MC COP-B (FCX): Free Stock Analysis Report
GENL ELECTRIC (GE): Free Stock Analysis Report
MICROSOFT CORP (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report
NEWMONT MINING (NEM): Free Stock Analysis Report
NETFLIX INC (NFLX): Free Stock Analysis Report
PROCTER & GAMBL (PG): Free Stock Analysis Report
TERADYNE INC (TER): Free Stock Analysis Report
UTD TECHS CORP (UTX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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