Stocks improved to trade mixed and then broadly, if narrowly
higher, late in the session, thanks to a boost from financials. The
DJIA win streak is now eight sessions, its longest such run since one
recorded in April 2007.
Stocks chopped in mixed fashion for much of the early part of the
day as Wall Street looked as if it might shrug off two reports showing
modest economic improvement.
The Labor Department said first-time jobless claims fell 10,000
last week to 570,000, just shy of economists' expectations for 565,000.
Workers continuing to file for benefits, however, fell more than
expected, declining to 6.13 million from 6.25 million in the previous
week. It was the lowest level for continuing claims since early April,
the AP said.
Meanwhile, a Commerce Department report showed the nation's economy
shrank at a 1 percent annualized rate in the second quarter. The
updated figure was unchanged from an earlier, preliminary reading on
the nation's gross domestic product but was smaller than the revised
1.5% drop that Wall Street economists expected.
Boeing Co. (
BA) was a strong performer all day after announcing
that its long-delayed 787 aircraft will be ready for its first flight
by the end of this year. The first delivery of the planes are due in
the fourth quarter of next year.
American International Group (
AIG) surged even as most financial
stocks were mixed early on. AIG is apparently drawing support on a
report that the company is receiving help from founder Maurice "Hank"
Greenberg.
On the housing front, another critical sector of the economy,
luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers (
TOL) said it lost $472.3 million in
its fiscal Q3. The company said it would have been profitable except
for charges and is seeing some improvement in markets. Toll pared its
loss out of the gate, but was still down about 1%.
Crude futures ended higher on Thursday, erasing their earlier
losses after dollar weakness, a well-received bond auction and most
higher stock trade. Crude oil for October closed up $1.06 at $72.49 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the contract fell
to an intraday low of $69.83 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.
NYSE up 34.37 (0.5%) to 6,722.31.
-DJIA up 37.11 (0.4%) to 9,581.
-S&P 500 up 2.9 (0.3%) to 1,031.
-Nasdaq up 3.3 (0.2%) to 2,028.
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Hang Seng down 1.04%
Nikkei down 1.56%
FTSE down 0.41%
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) IMMU reports positive study results for lupus drug.
(+) CSUN tops Q2 expectations.
(+) AIG gains on reports company talking with founder Greenberg for help.
(+) GES continues evening gain that followed raised dividend, earnings beat, mixed guidance.
(+) C gains on report that hedge fund investor John Paulson buying shares.
(+) ATSI gets FDA approval for investigation of 3f Aortic Bioprosthesis.
(+) NYFX sold to NYSE (NYX) for $1.675 per share cash.
(+) NOC inks new contracts.
(+) CLNE inks DOE grant.
(+) BA expects first 787 Dreamliner flight by end of 2009.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) MSFT following Sony (SNE) move by cutting game console price.
(-) SIGM continues evening decline that followed Q2 earnings match.
(-) AEO meets with Q2 EPS, guides for Q3 in line.
(-) TOL reports wider Q3 loss, meets with revenue.
(-) CWTR continues evening downside that followed earnings.
(-) TIVO steady last night and so far this morning after swinging to Q2 loss, announcing filed patent suit.
(-) ENER misses with Q4 results, guides for Q1 revs below Street.
(-) ALKS loses drug development deal with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen.
(-) APWR misses with Q2 results, guides for sales miss.
