US close: Stocks end slightly higher, Whirlpool jumps

US stocks finished moderately higher on Wednesday with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq inching back towards their recent record highs on what was a relatively quiet day for data and earnings.

The second-quarter earnings season has officially begun, but doesn't really ramp up for a couple of weeks when the heavyweight banking sector reports.

"With the second-quarter earnings season upon us, it is almost time for traders to take stock and seek clarity over whether equity market valuations are currently justified," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.

The S&P 500 finished the session up 0.2% at 5,477.9, coming close to last week's all-time closing high of 5,487.03, while the Nasdaq gained 0.5% to 17,805.16, a whisper below its peak of 17,862.23. The Dow meanwhile rose just 0.04% to 39,127.8.

In economic news on Wednesday, data showed that new-home sales plunged by 11.3% in May to an annualised rate of 619,000, down from a revised 698,000 the month before. This was well below the 640,000 expected by the market and the worst level since November.

The figures followed much worse-than-expected housing starts and existing home sales for May released last week. Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist at Oxford Economics, said that while upward revisions to prior months took mitigated the downside slightly, "sales for Q2 are tracking below our estimate, increasing the odds that we will make a downward revision to our forecast for Q2 residential investment".

All eyes will now turn towards inflation data later in the week, with the US core personal consumption expenditures index – the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation – due out on Friday morning. The annual rate of core PCE inflation is expected to have eased to 2.6% in May from 2.8% the month before.

Market movers

The biggest riser on the S&P 500 was home appliances group Whirlpool Corp which jumped 17% on the back of reports that German giant Bosch was considering a takeover big for the firm.

FedEx was also standout performer, surging 15% after the logistics group beat forecasts with its fourth-quarter results on both a profit and revenue basis, while next year's guidance was more or less in line with estimates. UPS also rose in sympathy.

Amazon was providing a big lift as the stock rose nearly 4% to surpass the $2trn market cap mark for the first time in its history. Others in the tech sector like Apple, Microsoft, Salesforce and Tesla were also on the rise.

Please note, according to our data below, Chipotle's shares were down 98%, though it was the effect of a 50-for-1 stock split – one of the NYSE's largest in history. Shares are now worth $65.86 each, compared with Tuesday's closing price of $3,283.04.

Dow Jones - Risers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $213.25 2.00%
Boeing Co. (BA) $178.50 1.94%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $68.29 1.29%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $341.82 1.03%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $243.15 0.57%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $167.45 0.36%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $64.05 0.33%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $452.16 0.27%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $257.83 0.17%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $53.20 0.08%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $312.82 -2.03%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $155.95 -1.58%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $205.74 -1.43%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $46.86 -1.10%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $131.50 -1.07%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $94.06 -0.73%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $30.54 -0.65%
3M Co. (MMM) $101.45 -0.59%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $171.87 -0.42%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $455.86 -0.33%

S&P 500 - Risers

Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $101.91 17.10%
FedEx Corp. (FDX) $296.19 15.53%
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $100.28 8.10%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $193.61 3.90%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $243.61 3.56%
Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) $45.63 3.26%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $18.37 3.09%
Celanese Corp. (CE) $138.48 3.03%
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) $138.15 2.82%
Nucor Corp. (NUE) $154.56 2.03%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $65.86 -97.99%
Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $117.39 -6.11%
General Mills Inc. (GIS) $64.17 -4.59%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $238.02 -4.18%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $105.68 -3.79%
Corning Inc. (GLW) $38.28 -3.75%
Leggett & Platt Inc. (LEG) $10.78 -3.58%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $79.52 -3.34%
HP Inc (HPQ) $35.09 -3.25%
Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $61.94 -2.98%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $196.37 4.81%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $96.74 3.98%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $193.61 3.90%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $243.61 3.56%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $17.84 2.53%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,678.96 2.23%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $17.38 2.06%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $213.25 2.00%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $2.70 1.50%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $637.48 1.11%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $117.39 -6.11%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $238.02 -4.18%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $105.68 -3.79%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.62 -2.98%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $197.33 -2.39%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $64.56 -2.33%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $58.03 -2.31%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $61.75 -2.14%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $104.29 -2.06%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $312.82 -2.03%