US close: Wall St ignores bearish data to strut higher
US stocks ended their three-day losing streak as investors overlooked a three-month record jobless number, commodities weakness and a mixed European session as Wall Street adopted a devil-may-care swagger ahead of next week's widely predicted Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
The Dow Jones closed up 0.47% at 17,574.75, while the S&P 500 rose 0.21% and the Nasdaq increased 0.44%.
Earlier London's FTSE and the Stoxx Europe 600 both closed in the red, though Germany's Dax kept above par.
The US stock market's optimism was maintained despite the Fed's expected imminent start of policy tightening, with history showing the first hike by the US central bank on average triggers around a 7% fall in US stocks.
However, this does not mean a bear market might be about to start, Credit Suisse strategist Andrew Garthwaite said on Thursday, although losses might be expected.
“Typically, six months later equities are, on average, up 2.2% from pre-Fed tightening levels,” Garthwaite said.
In the main US data points on Thursday, jobless claims rose by 13,000 to 282,000 in the week to 5 December, compared with analysts' expectations for a 269,000 reading, according to the Department of Labor.
Meanwhile, the average of new claims over the last four weeks was up 1,500 to a seasonally-adjusted 270,750.
Import prices in the US fell 0.4% in November from the prior month as fuel prices slumped 2.5%, following a 0.3% drop in October, according to data from the Department of Labor. Analysts had expected a 0.8% decrease.
Prices have been on a downward trend throughout this year, slipping each month with the exception of May and June.
“We expect import prices to decline further over the medium term as the effects of past dollar appreciation continue to weigh on prices,” according to Barclays Research analysts.
“Ongoing economic weakness in many emerging markets combined with the recent further declines in commodity prices is likely to keep import prices from emerging markets declining for some time.”
The Flow of Funds report on US household change in net worth for the third quarter showed a $1.2trn loss, mostly due to the fall in stock values in the summer.
Oil retreats but Chevron and greenback rally
The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil slunk back down below $37, with a 1.56% decline on the day to $36.56.
The decline came as OPEC said crude production from its members rose to a three-year high in November and the Middle East oil cartel also raised its 2015 oil demand forecast. Crude output climbed 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 31.7m bpd in the last month.
The dollar was up against the euro, pound, yen and both Aussie and Canadian dollars, while spot gold weakened as the day went on, falling 0.6% to $1,071.90 per oz.
In company news, shares in Chevron bounced despite oil's decline, after the oil titan revealed a 24% decrease in its expected investment in capital and exploration for 2016 to $26.6bn.
Merck was another gainer, with news of another partnership in the hot area of immuno-oncology giving the stock a 1.6% shot in the arm.
Camera maker GoPro were stoked 12% higher as more experts suggested it would make a perfect acquisition target for Apple.
First Solar slipped after the solar-power company released an uninspiring sales guidance late yesterday.
Men’s Wearhouse tumbled lower after the clothing retailer reporting a third quarter loss of $27.1m as its acquisition Jos A Bank continued to struggle.
Lo-Jack rallied after wireless software group CalAmp made an offer to buy the software making company.
Atlassian on Wednesday evening priced its initial public offering higher than expected.
Ciena fell after the telecom-equipment maker released a lacklustre outlook.
S&P 500 - Risers
United States Steel Corp. (X) $8.83 +12.06%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $7.60 +10.14%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $7.36 +5.29%
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $575.43 +5.00%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $9.17 +4.92%
Ball Corp (BLL) $71.89 +4.43%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $52.93 +4.40%
Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $51.28 +3.58%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $36.52 +3.46%
United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) $59.53 +2.89%
S&P 500 - Fallers
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $54.35 -7.65%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $66.46 -4.93%
Eversource Energy (ES) $48.86 -3.89%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $54.91 -3.62%
Entergy Corp. (ETR) $65.71 -3.42%
Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (PNW) $61.21 -3.03%
Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) $61.15 -2.97%
SCANA Corp. (SCG) $56.98 -2.95%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $25.41 -2.79%
Wisconsin Energy Corp. (WEC) $48.56 -2.76%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $89.30 +1.89%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $53.69 +1.65%
Boeing Co. (BA) $146.41 +1.50%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $116.21 +1.01%
3M Co. (MMM) $157.52 +0.94%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $182.11 +0.77%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $59.56 +0.73%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $66.38 +0.71%
General Electric Co. (GE) $30.65 +0.59%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $117.20 +0.53%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $110.76 -0.64%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $93.87 -0.36%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $128.64 -0.16%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.77 -0.11%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $45.32 -0.09%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $110.99 -0.05%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $52.93 +4.40%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $96.65 +2.66%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $88.46 +2.57%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $187.65 +2.45%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $526.04 +2.41%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $14.66 +2.37%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $80.03 +2.18%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $42.18 +2.16%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $182.65 +2.12%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $31.33 +2.09%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $66.46 -4.93%
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $3.21 -2.13%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $18.75 -1.47%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $66.37 -1.07%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $32.09 -1.05%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $122.91 -1.04%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $183.64 -0.90%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $77.81 -0.82%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $96.99 -0.75%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $88.96 -0.67%