US close: Stocks slip as oil futures come under pressure
Wall Street ended the session lower as a retreat in oil futures undercut positive news on the jobs front.
The Dow Jones Industrials Average slipped 0.25% or 41 points to 16,413, the Nasdaq Composite was lower by 1.02% to 4,488 and the S&P 500 down 0.46% or nine points at 1,918 by the closing bell.
Oil prices retreated after Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said his country would not participate in any production cuts, although other countries were free to limit their own output.
"If other producers want to limit or agree to a freeze in terms of additional production that may have an impact on the market, but Saudi Arabia is not prepared to cut production," Mr al-Jubeir told AFP.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures surrendered 58 cents to end the day at $30.77 per barrel.
The Energy Information Administration said US oil stockpiled rose by 2.1m barrels during the week ending on 12 February.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department revealed jobless claims fell 7,000 to 262,000 in the week ending 13 February. This marked a three-month low and was much better than economists’ expectations for a 6,000 increase to 275,000.
Pantheon Macroeconomics said: “It's too soon to draw any definitive conclusions, but we think the data are consistent with the idea that the underlying trend in claims is more or less steady in the low 270s. Job losses among exporters and the oil sector are too small to make much difference to the aggregate number, given the strength of the domestic services economy.”
Less inspiring figures from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region remained weak in February, albeit not as bad as expected. The diffusion index for current activity rose to -2.8 from -3.5 in January, slightly ahead of consensus estimates for a reading of -3 but marking the sixth consecutive month in negative territory. A reading below zero signals a contraction.
In corporate news, IBM was on the front foot after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’.
Chip maker Nvidia was also in the black after its full year revenue beat expectations.
On the downside, Wal-Mart shares slumped after the retailer’s fourth quarter sales missed expectations.
Perrigo was also under pressure after the drug maker’s fourth quarter profit fell short of analysts’ estimates.
S&P 500 - Risers
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $30.04 +8.60%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $34.37 +8.42%
Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) $2.04 +5.70%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $1.98 +5.32%
FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) $33.93 +5.14%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $132.45 +5.04%
Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) $14.86 +4.65%
HP Inc (HPQ) $10.52 +4.37%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $9.53 +4.04%
Welltower Inc (HCN) $58.68 +3.80%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $130.40 -10.17%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $22.60 -9.13%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $37.03 -8.57%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $2.31 -7.23%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $6.93 -6.48%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $17.00 -5.45%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $8.66 -5.15%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $8.43 -4.96%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $31.37 -4.82%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $8.12 -4.69%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $132.45 +5.04%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $104.24 +1.70%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $50.94 +1.23%
Boeing Co. (BA) $117.57 +1.06%
American Express Co. (AXP) $54.15 +1.01%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $58.60 +0.74%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $82.45 +0.55%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $43.61 +0.28%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $88.36 +0.27%
3M Co. (MMM) $156.78 +0.10%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $64.12 -3.01%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $147.73 -2.13%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $96.26 -1.90%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $86.73 -1.79%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $66.12 -1.69%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $57.81 -1.63%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $117.17 -1.24%
Visa Inc. (V) $71.24 -1.10%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $59.97 -1.04%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $119.97 -1.02%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $30.04 +8.60%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $33.11 +3.57%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $47.02 +2.82%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $44.41 +2.59%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $47.75 +2.31%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $23.93 +1.61%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $69.46 +1.46%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $49.08 +1.38%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $23.53 +1.34%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,251.95 +1.33%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $43.17 -6.29%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $71.02 -4.61%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $90.49 -4.51%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $25.62 -4.08%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $67.60 -3.91%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $74.87 -3.78%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $143.15 -3.67%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $150.16 -3.51%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $63.07 -3.49%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $44.71 -3.37%