US close: More signs of dovishness from Fed

By Sharecast News

Sharecast News | 08 Oct, 2015

Updated : 21:53

US shares rose late on Thursday, as investors saw more signs of dovishness from the Federal Reserve in its September meeting minutes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 138.46 points to 17,050.75, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were respectively 17.6 and 19.64 points higher to 2,013.43 and 2,013.43.

The minutes from the Fed revealed that the economy was close to needing an interest rate rise. It noted that while policymakers were unsettled by signs of turmoil abroad, they didn’t believe it had "materially altered" the economic outlook for the US.

“In part because of the risks to the outlook for economic activity and inflation, the committee decided that it was prudent to wait for additional information confirming that the economic outlook had not deteriorated,” the minutes noted.

Barclay’s noted that the committee was divided.

“[It’s] divided between members who see the health of the domestic economy and continued improvements in labor markets as decisive and warranting a near-term rate hike and those who remain concerned about the prospects for inflation returning to target and the implications of not reaching that target for the ultimate anchoring of inflation expectations, amid risks that economic activity could be derailed by developments abroad.

“These two camps have likely drifted farther apart as recent readings on household consumption show the potential for an accelerating household sector even as inflation continues to run below the FOMC’s target and some data releases, such as jobs and trade, have disappointed sharply to the downside.”

Barclays still believes the next rate hike will be in March next year instead of December due to the recent data flow on prices, trade, and jobs.

On the economic data front, the number of first time unemployment benefits claimants in the US fell to its lowest since July last week. According to the Department of Labor, new claims declined by 13,000 to 263,000 in the week to 3 October, compared with analysts' expectations for a 274,000 reading. Meanwhile, the average of new claims over the last four weeks fell by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 267,500, the report added. "Despite the recent softening in payroll growth, this morning’s data confirm that the separations side of US labor markets remains quite healthy," analysts at Barclays said in a note.

In company news, Denbury was a big winner, up over 12% on the back of a poor day on Wednesday as oil prices continued to rise.

Meanwhile Amazon slid 1.63% while eBay plunged nearly 6% on the back of data from ChannelAdvisor that Amazon’s September same-store sales slowed to 19.2% from 24.7% while eBay’s same-store-sales of 1.1%, well short of an estimated 15%.

S&P 500 - Risers

Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $4.33 +13.95%

Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR) $3.86 +12.21%

Joy Global Inc. (JOY) $18.51 +8.44%

Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $37.27 +6.33%

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $114.93 +6.32%

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $75.93 +5.47%

Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $20.18 +5.27%

Flowserve Corp. (FLS) $48.02 +4.94%

EMC Corp. (EMC) $27.18 +4.70%

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $72.33 +4.61%

S&P 500 - Fallers

eBay Inc. (EBAY) $24.15 -5.96%

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $37.26 -2.59%

CIGNA Corp. (CI) $133.63 -2.20%

Dollar General Corp (DG) $66.20 -1.85%

Linear Technology Corp. (LLTC) $41.79 -1.76%

Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $116.69 -1.64%

Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $533.12 -1.63%

Anthem Inc (ANTM) $137.33 -1.49%

Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $18.66 -1.48%

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $62.08 -1.30%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $124.91 +2.30%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $71.84 +2.07%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $89.91 +2.03%

Boeing Co. (BA) $139.04 +1.47%

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $152.28 +1.46%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $47.45 +1.39%

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $56.13 +1.35%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $27.91 +1.34%

3M Co. (MMM) $149.48 +1.31%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $104.61 +1.18%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $109.48 -1.17%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $181.07 -0.64%

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.09 -0.60%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $116.08 -0.30%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $62.13 -0.00%

American Express Co. (AXP) $77.18 -0.00%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $114.93 +6.32%

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $75.93 +5.47%

Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $64.11 +3.92%

Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $62.98 +3.18%

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $47.31 +3.07%

Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $57.87 +3.01%

Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $28.84 +2.96%

Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $74.54 +2.91%

TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $69.58 +2.73%

Fastenal Co. (FAST) $39.04 +2.63%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

eBay Inc. (EBAY) $24.15 -5.96%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $140.36 -3.82%

Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $141.23 -2.45%

Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $226.67 -2.28%