US close: Stocks end up but off highs as oil slips back
US stocks closed up on Wednesday as a dovish speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen the previous day continued to underpin sentiment, although indices were off the day's highs as oil prices slipped back.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq both ended up 0.4% while the S&P 500 rose 0.4%.
Oil prices, meanwhile, settled pretty flat following a strong performance earlier in the day, after data from the Energy Information Administration showed US crude stockpiles rose 2.3m barrels last week to 534.8m barrels, which was at all-time highs.
West Texas Intermediate was flat at $38.27 per barrel and Brent crude was 0.3% higher at $39.25.
Investors continued to weigh Yellen’s speech at the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday.
Yellen said the central bank would move cautiously when it came to further interest rate hikes, striking a dovish tone that contrasted greatly with the hawkish comments last week from San Francisco Fed President John Williams, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart and St Louis Fed President James Bullard.
The Fed Chair highlighted global economic uncertainty, including the slowdown in China and sliding oil prices as reasons behind the Fed’s decision not to hike in January or March and said there would be “only gradual increases” going forward.
Economic news also provided a boost on Wednesday as the ADP said the private sector in the US added 200,000 jobs in March, beating expectations of 195,000 jobs but marking a deceleration from the previous month’s 214,000 jobs.
The report comes ahead of the all-important US non-farm payrolls report on Friday, which Societe Generale expects to show a solid increase of 217,000 in March, up from 214,000 in February.
On the corporate front, Boeing fell slightly after saying it will cut more than 4,500 jobs by June to accelerate cost cuts.
Technology giant Apple was higher after the Wall Street Journal reported that it will supply every Major League Baseball team with iPad Pro tablets to help teams and coaches use performance stats.
Sonic Corp rallied after the fast food chain’s second quarter earnings beat expectations, while Lululemon Athletica surged after its fourth quarter profit surpassed estimates. Carnival Corp also gained on the back of stronger-than-expected results.
State Street Corp ended on the front foot after agreeing to buy GE Asset Management from General Electric for around $485m.
On the downside, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International slid after it launched a credit facility amendment.
In currencies, the US dollar was down 0.1% against the pound, 0.3% versus the euro and 0.2% against the yen.
S&P 500 - Risers
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $52.36 +5.48%
MetLife Inc. (MET) $44.66 +5.18%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $2.45 +4.47%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $5.63 +2.93%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $36.03 +2.88%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $74.29 +2.75%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $11.36 +2.71%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UA) $85.64 +2.55%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $33.60 +2.50%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $34.06 +2.47%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $46.14 -4.51%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $7.70 -3.75%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $86.47 -3.62%
Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $119.66 -2.64%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $32.36 -2.38%
Eog Resources Inc. (EOG) $73.67 -2.36%
Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $53.28 -2.22%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $26.66 -2.20%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $12.94 -2.12%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $359.60 -2.12%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Visa Inc. (V) $76.79 +1.87%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $109.59 +1.77%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $125.81 +1.48%
3M Co. (MMM) $166.75 +1.44%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $28.46 +1.28%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $59.71 +1.15%
General Electric Co. (GE) $31.83 +1.13%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $68.77 +1.09%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.71 +1.02%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $117.47 +0.91%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Boeing Co. (BA) $128.58 -1.76%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $148.39 -0.63%
American Express Co. (AXP) $60.29 -0.51%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $53.20 -0.23%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $82.68 -0.14%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $129.65 -0.14%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $109.00 -0.13%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $95.25 -0.07%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $54.03 -0.04%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $84.52 -0.01%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $54.18 +5.70%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $27.25 +3.14%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $86.34 +2.99%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $33.60 +2.50%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $34.06 +2.47%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $83.21 +2.29%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $21.05 +2.23%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $77.88 +1.84%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $156.93 +1.82%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $109.59 +1.77%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $46.14 -4.51%
Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $53.28 -2.22%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $26.66 -2.20%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $359.60 -2.12%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $102.18 -1.87%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $28.45 -1.76%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $226.62 -1.53%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $98.80 -1.35%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $46.39 -1.32%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $68.35 -1.30%