US close: Stocks end little changed as oil prices retreat

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.1%, the Nasdaq closed up 0.1% and the S&P 500 finished flat.

Investors may also have been exercising some caution ahead of a speech on the economy by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen on Friday, which she is due to deliver during a visit to Harvard at 1530 BST.

“With a long weekend looming for both the US and UK, and comments from Janet Yellen before this, it is hardly surprising to see stock markets shift into pause mode,” said IG’s Chris Beauchamp.

“What is interesting, however, is what is going on with the US dollar; having rallied hard into the Fed minutes and then moved modestly higher by dint of Fed speakers seemingly every five minutes, the dollar index is now turning lower, as the 2016 downward trend reasserts itself. If this can carry on into next week, then the way looks clear for more upside in equities,” he added.

Oil prices settled lower as the rally lost steam. West Texas Intermediate was down 0.5% to $49.32 a barrel while Brent crude was 0.7% weaker at $49.37, having breached the $50 mark earlier in the day for the first time since November. Prices had been supported by data from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday that showed US crude supplies declined by 4.2m barrels for the week ended 20 May versus expectations of a 2.5m drop.

Meanwhile, the dollar was 0.3% firmer against the pound, but 0.3% and 0.4% weaker against the euro and the yen, respectively.

Economic data was a bright spot on Thursday, but it may well have been a case of ‘good news is bad news’ as signs of an improvement in the US economy support the argument for a rate rise.

Figures from the Labor Department showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week.

US initial jobless claims decreased by 10,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level to 268,000. Economists had been expecting a smaller drop, to 275,000.

Meanwhile, US durable goods rocketed 3.4% month-on-month in April, figures from the Department of Commerce revealed, although this was largely due to a 65% surge in orders for civilian aircraft.

The National Association of Realtors’ pending home sales index jumped by 5.10% month-on-month in April - to reach its highest level since February 2006 - after a rise of 1.4% in March and versus consensus of 0.60%.

Investors also digested comments from Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell, who said in a speech that an interest rate hike could be appropriate fairly soon. Nevertheless, Powell insisted any hikes should be gradual, with no need to rush, particularly given global risks such as the British EU referendum on 23 June.

In corporate news, discount retailer Dollar Tree surged after lifting its outlook, while HP Inc rose sharply after releasing better-than-expecting second-quarter earnings late on Wednesday.

Dollar General racked up solid gains as its quarterly revenue surpassed estimates.

PVH Corp, the parent company of Calvin Klein, was also in the black after upping its guidance for the year.

On the downside, Abercrombie & Fitch tumbled as it posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, while shares in Signet Jewelers lost their shine after its quarterly revenue fell short of expectations.

S&P 500 - Risers

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $88.37 +12.77%

HP Inc (HPQ) $13.04 +6.89%

Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $48.19 +5.87%

Dollar General Corp (DG) $88.01 +4.61%

PVH Corp. (PVH) $93.73 +4.34%

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $149.71 +3.58%

United States Steel Corp. (X) $14.75 +3.29%

Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $36.76 +3.29%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $11.95 +3.02%

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $102.81 +2.60%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $97.00 -10.49%

Csra Inc. (CSRA) $24.17 -5.73%

Carnival Corp. (CCL) $47.59 -4.11%

Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $41.61 -3.23%

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $34.55 -3.17%

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.23 -2.76%

Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $13.17 -2.73%

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $11.34 -2.66%

Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $75.46 -2.63%

NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $24.90 -2.43%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $100.41 +0.79%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $44.69 +0.70%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $134.05 +0.64%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $50.16 +0.62%

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $70.85 +0.52%

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $152.44 +0.49%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $123.79 +0.43%

Boeing Co. (BA) $129.31 +0.35%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $31.49 +0.32%

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $34.43 +0.23%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $66.96 -1.86%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $159.22 -1.26%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $65.03 -0.75%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $72.08 -0.68%

3M Co. (MMM) $168.91 -0.64%

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $89.80 -0.51%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $51.89 -0.44%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $112.90 -0.40%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $132.98 -0.33%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $81.22 -0.32%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $88.37 +12.77%

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $149.71 +3.58%

Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $36.76 +3.29%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $11.95 +3.02%

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $102.81 +2.60%

Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $225.12 +2.52%

Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $53.98 +2.12%

Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $84.86 +2.07%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $106.83 +1.72%

Liberty Interactive Corporation QVC Group (QVCA) $26.97 +1.62%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $219.07 -2.89%

NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $24.90 -2.43%

American Airlines Group (AAL) $31.51 -2.05%

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $87.26 -1.75%

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $45.78 -1.70%

Incyte Corp. (INCY) $81.78 -1.66%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $85.29 -1.41%

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $58.11 -1.36%

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $43.98 -1.28%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $76.78 -1.09%