US close: Markets eke out gains as oil prices fall
US stocks finished just above the line on Thursday with low oil prices dragging energy stocks down on the back of higher-than-expected US oil inventory data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.01% at 20,858.19, the S&P 500 was up 0.08% at 2,364.87 and the Nasdaq 100 was 0.08% firmer at 5,363.98.
On news that inventories increased by 8.2 million barrels from the previous week to 528.4m on Wednesday, oil stocks fell on fears of oversupply and sparked a sell-off.
West Texas Intermediate was last down 1.31% to $49.63 a barrel, while Brent crude was 1.12% weaker at $52.52.
Oil companies Transocean and Halliburton were down 3.31% and 0.78%, respectively.
Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital said that OPEC warned that the move to cut production could spur US shale producers and that compliance with the cut to output was always a concern.
He said all eyes are on OPEC for its meeting in May on whether the consortium can agree further cuts or if producers desperate for cash pump more to offset falling revenues.
The dollar extended its gains on Thursday on the back ADP employment data, a precursor to Friday’s important non-farm payrolls report, showing that 298,000 private sector jobs were added to the economy well ahead of executions, which according to analysts at Monex Europe was likely to increase already fever-pitch speculation that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates at its next meeting on 14-15 March.
Analysts at Jefferies said: "A March rate hike is not quite a done deal –a rate hike is never a done deal until it happens—but does appear to be inevitable in the absence of the unexpected emergence of a severe threat that would have to occur in less than two weeks."
Meanwhile, initial jobless claims rebounded to 243,000 for the week ending 4 March, slightly above the 238,000 consensus forecast and more than the previous week’s unexpected fall to 223,000, the lowest in 44 years.
The four-week moving average added 2,250 to 236,500.
Also, the US import price index rose 0.2% in February month-on-month more than the 0.1% expected, while import prices increased 4.6% year-on-year.
On the corporate front, Staples dropped 5.25% after the stationery giant swung to a third quarter close as revenue fell and said it will close 70 stores.
National Beverage Corporation climbed 10.18% after beating quarterly earnings expectations.
Sears gained 6.94% after the retailer’s revenue beat expectations and it posted a narrower-than-expected-loss for the quarter.
PPG Industries was down 3.65% after Akzo Nobel rejected a £22.1bn unsolicited takeover offer by the chemicals company.
Dow Jones - Risers
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $125.95 1.49%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $80.49 0.89%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.67 0.79%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $35.82 0.56%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $121.90 0.54%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $34.05 0.41%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $91.57 0.39%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $110.04 0.39%
American Express Co. (AXP) $79.29 0.33%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $49.28 0.24%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $91.39 -1.97%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $177.19 -1.26%
Boeing Co. (BA) $180.57 -0.64%
General Electric Co. (GE) $29.67 -0.47%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $64.73 -0.40%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $56.36 -0.27%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $138.68 -0.23%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $146.62 -0.20%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $250.18 -0.02%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $128.10 0.04%
S&P 500 - Risers
Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $70.02 8.73%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $16.07 8.07%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $2.61 4.42%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $17.86 4.02%
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) $93.06 3.94%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $5.13 3.85%
Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) $376.01 3.46%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $20.29 3.41%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $26.64 3.02%
Apache Corp. (APA) $50.63 2.47%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $8.49 -5.25%
PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) $102.93 -3.65%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $43.33 -3.48%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $12.00 -3.31%
Simon Property Group Inc. (SPG) $169.38 -3.07%
Extra Space Storage (EXR) $76.25 -3.04%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $46.68 -2.97%
Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM) $21.59 -2.92%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $74.26 -2.86%
GGP Inc (GGP) $22.92 -2.80%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $390.14 2.30%
Liberty Interactive Corporation QVC Group (QVCA) $19.59 1.71%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $125.13 1.70%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $116.59 1.69%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $43.80 1.53%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $93.57 1.51%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $138.02 1.49%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $30.70 1.15%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $736.02 1.09%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $222.01 1.08%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
American Airlines Group (AAL) $43.33 -3.48%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $46.68 -2.97%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $74.26 -2.86%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $50.18 -2.45%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $68.39 -1.88%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $66.86 -1.12%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $79.03 -1.11%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $71.97 -1.00%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $98.80 -1.00%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $55.19 -0.99%