Afternoon Market Update

The crude-oil futures reverted to gains following weakness in the June manufacturing data from Chicago. Despite slipping slightly in June, manufacturing levels remained relatively high. Crude oil for August delivery gained 0.7% to $76.43 a barrel. Shares of American Greetings Corp AM dropped more than 3%, despite tripling of the company’s Q1 profit. Although AM’s Q1 earnings surged $30.8 million, or $0.75 per share, as compared to $10 million in the year-ago period, they fell short of consensus expectations. US Retail stocks moved up after falling for two consecutive days. The retail stocks resisted pressure from unsatisfactory private-sector job-growth data. According to ADP employment report, the US private-sector firms generated 13,000 jobs in June, while the economists expected an increase of 65,000 jobs. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.