Symbol	Name	Price		Change	%Change
DJIA	Dow Industrials	18597.70		23.76	0.13%
S& P 500	S& P 500 Index	2187.02		4.80	0.22%
NASDAQ	NASDAQ	5240.15		11.49	0.22%

 

Stocks notch slight gains as energy leads oil soars 3 pct

U.S. equities closed slightly higher Thursday, amid surging oil prices, as investors digested fresh economic data as well as the minutes from the Federal Reserve' s July meeting.

" We' re likely to continue trading in a very narrow range," said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones. " Overall, investors continue to balance when the Fed will raise rates against relatively good earnings," and other factors.

U.S. crude settled at $ 48.22, up 3.06 percent, amid talks of a supply freeze. WTI also posted its best settle since July 1.

" Crude oil is having another massive day and that' s preventing any big pullback," said Jeremy Klein, chief market strategist at FBN Securities.

On the data front, weekly jobless claims fell 4,000 to 262,000, while the August Philadelphia Fed business index came in line with expectations. Leading indicators rose 0.4 percent last month, slightly more than expected.

" There is not a lot of market-moving news, except for the Fed minutes," said Ernie Cecilia, CIO at Bryn Mawr Trust. He also said the minutes " create uncertainty within the Fed, which the market is interpreting as no action from the Fed. "

Gold futures for December delivery settled at $ 1,357.20 per ounce, up $ 8.40.

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Symbol	Name	Price		Change	%Change
DJIA	Dow Industrials	18573.94		+21.92	0.12%
S& P 500	S& P 500 Index	2182.22		+4.07	0.19%
NASDAQ	NASDAQ	5228.66		+1.55	0.03%

 

US stocks close mostly higher after Fed minutes utilities jump more than 1 pct

U.S. stocks closed mostly higher on Wednesday as investors digested the release of the Federal Reserve' s July meeting.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed about 20 points higher, with 3M contributing the most gains. The S& P 500 gained approximately 0.2 percent, with utilities advancing more than 1 percent. The Nasdaq composite underperformed, barely closing above break-even.

U.S. Treasurys traded higher after the minutes were released, with the two-year note yield at 0.73 percent and the benchmark 10-year yield at 1.55 percent.

" It appears there are not a lot of fireworks ... that came out of this set of minutes," said Bill Northey, chief investment officer at the Private Client Group at US Bank. He also said " this is setting up for one more move" which, in his opinion, will take place in December.

Some voting Federal Reserve policymakers expect that a U.S. interest rate increase will be needed soon, although there is general agreement that more data is needed before such a move, according to the minutes from the Fed' s July policy meeting.

" Some ... members anticipated that economic conditions would soon warrant taking another step in removing policy accommodation," the Fed said in the minutes..

Mark Spellman, portfolio manager at Alpine Funds, said after the minutes were released that " the market doesn' t believe what they say, though." " In the last couple of days, you had some Fed governors saying the market isn' t discounting enough of a chance of a rate hike &mdash and the minutes that, too."

Still, he said " in those minutes, I don' t think there' s anything that' s going to change a lot of opinions" about the Fed.

The Dow fell as much as 80 points at its session lows, before the three major indexes began paring losses in early afternoon trade.

" There is some anxiety that the Fed may not be as dormant as some people might think," Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank, said before the minutes were released.

Investors were looking for signs and clues about when the next rate hike will be coming, particularly after hawkish comments made by some Fed officials.

" We got some vocal Fed [officials] suggesting a rate hike soon, but I don' t think they will hike in September," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial.

On Tuesday, New York Fed President William Dudley said a rate hike could come next month. Meanwhile, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said the U.S. economy is strong enough to withstand at least one increase this year.

On the oil front, U.S. crude rose 0.45 percent to settle at $46.79 a barrel, after Energy Information Administration data showed oil inventories decreased by 2.5 million barrels last week

Overseas, European stocks fell, with the Stoxx 600 index slipping 0.83 percent. In Asia, stocks closed mixed, with the Nikkei 225 rising 0.9 percent and the Shanghai composite ending marginally lower.

Gold futures for December delivery settled $8.10 lower at $1,348.80 per ounce.

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Symbol	Name	Price		Change	%Change
DJIA	Dow Industrials	18552.02		-84.03	-0.45%
S& P 500	S& P 500 Index	2178.15		-12.00	-0.55%
NASDAQ	NASDAQ	5227.11		-34.90	-0.66%

 

 

Volume:	1,073.1M
Value:	$826.6M
Gainers/Losers:	190/196