US close: Markets close higher despite oil dipping below $30
US stocks closed higher on Tuesday after China’s central bank set the yuan higher, however that sentiment was offset by oil prices briefly falling below $30 a barrel.
The Dow closed up 0.72% while the Nasdaq rose 1.03% and the S&P 500 gained 0.78%.
Oil prices were in the red after concerns that the turmoil in China would hit demand for fuel. By 2215 GMT, West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.16% to $30.87 per barrel and Brent dropped 2.16% to $30.87.
“The overwhelming supply and demand equation that has encouraged dramatic selling is going nowhere anytime soon, with a persistent aggressive oversupply in the markets consistently haunting investor attraction, while weaker forecasts around global growth weighs on demand, and it is likely that more global economic downgrades from major institutions are to follow early this year,” said FXTM chief market analyst Jameel Ahmad.
Meanwhile the People’s Bank of China set the mid-point for the yuan at 6.5628 per dollar on Tuesday, just two pips weaker than the previous strong fix and firmer than its spot levels late on Monday. The spot yuan weakened from its overnight close to 6.5733 to the dollar, but offshore it strengthened as much as 180 pips to 6.5660.
“This recovery in the offshore yuan could well be enough to help put a floor under stock markets in the short term, as US markets managed to stabilise yesterday despite posting new multi week lows during the day,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
The yuan has depreciated more than 1% since the start of the year, after losing 4.7% against the dollar last year.
In the US, job openings nudged higher in November, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Openings came in at 5.43m from 5.34m in October and compared with economists’ expectations for a 5.41m reading. The figure was down from a record 5.7m in July but up 11% on the previous year.
Meanwhile, hires edged up to 5.2m from 5.17m while the number of people quitting their jobs increased 6.3% on the year to 2.83m.
US small business confidence also edged higher last month but the sector faced uncertainty with government policy-makers likely to be paralysed ahead of this year's presidential election, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.
The NFIB's index of small business optimism edged higher in December by 0.4 points to 95.2, but that remained "well below" the gauge's 42-year average of 98.0, NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement.
In company news, Alcoa closed down 9% after reporting fourth quarter revenues on Monday night that missed expectations.
Lululemon Athletica rose 3.8% for the day after it raised its guidance for the fourth quarter on Monday evening, driven by strong holiday sales.
Anthem shares also ended the day 5.6% higher after the company revealed more members had been enrolled last year then it expected.
S&P 500 - Risers
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $59.65 +6.29%
Anthem Inc (ANTM) $135.60 +5.64%
Medtronic Plc (MDT) $76.44 +4.71%
Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) $53.48 +4.05%
Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) $17.79 +3.85%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $106.85 +3.71%
Aetna Inc. (AET) $109.15 +3.64%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $104.65 +3.54%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $54.45 +3.54%
St Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) $59.19 +3.52%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $4.48 -15.95%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $16.54 -11.50%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $5.94 -9.17%
Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) $2.52 -9.03%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $7.28 -9.00%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $23.25 -6.89%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $24.23 -6.01%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $27.88 -5.11%
Hess Corp. (HES) $39.60 -5.01%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $4.11 -4.64%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $112.26 +2.45%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $75.20 +2.05%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.68 +1.93%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $82.15 +1.71%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $101.46 +1.54%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $99.96 +1.45%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $127.49 +1.36%
Boeing Co. (BA) $131.92 +1.31%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $42.12 +1.30%
Visa Inc. (V) $74.76 +1.14%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $58.60 -0.98%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $63.62 -0.93%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $44.93 -0.35%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $132.90 -0.25%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $31.00 -0.23%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $76.51 -0.21%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $165.71 -0.01%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $59.65 +6.29%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $28.20 +4.35%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $106.85 +3.71%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $54.45 +3.54%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $59.16 +3.32%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $46.88 +3.12%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $59.46 +2.84%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $70.79 +2.79%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $166.12 +2.77%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $37.12 +2.51%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $88.09 -4.45%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $100.83 -2.93%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $55.62 -2.06%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $22.60 -1.65%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $34.14 -1.33%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $474.98 -1.21%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $45.63 -1.11%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $35.14 -1.04%
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $2.94 -0.84%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $52.36 -0.83%