US close: Stocks take a breather on holiday-thinned trading volumes

The S&P 500 ended the session lower for a third straight day, drifting down by 0.04% to 2,035.94, although the Dow Jones Industrials edged up by 0.08% to 17,515.73 and the Nasdaq Composite another 0.10% to end the week at 4,773.50.

Nevertheless, losses for the week as a whole in the S&P 500 were limited to just a 0.7% dip for the S&P 500, as technical resistance at the 2,050-point mark proved to be too much to ask for from the holiday-thinned ranks of traders left at their desks.

Equity trading volumes declined 28% below their year-to-date average last week, according to Bloomberg data.

US stocks were under pressure on Thursday as oil prices tumbled and as US economic data came in mixed.

A renewed fall in the US oil rig count failed to spark a bid in crude oil energy quotes.

America's oil rig count fell 15 to 372, according to the latest weekly tally from driller Baker Hughes - the least since late 2009.

Despite that, front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures slipped 27 cents to end at $39.46 per barrel on NYMEX.

Orders for durable goods fell by 2.8% month-on-month in February, dragged lower by fewer orders for aircraft and from the defence sector.

Nonetheless, a 1.0% drop in orders excluding those from the transportation sector (consensus: -0.3% over the month), caught the eye of analysts, as did a 1.8% fall in so-called 'core' orders for capital goods, which exclude both those of civilian aircraft and from the defence sector.

"We had hoped that the up-tick in the ISM manufacturing survey would be reflected in better numbers.

"We think the manufacturing sector is stabilizing, at least, but it will take a while longer for this to be reflected in all the data," Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a research report sent to clients.

Markit’s purchasing managers’ index on US manufacturing rose to 51.4 in March from 51.3 in February, missing expectations for a reading of 51.5 but above the 50 level that separates an expansion from a contraction.

The Labor Department revealed US initial jobless claims rose by 6,000 to 265,000, versus economists’ expectations for an increase to 268,000.

St Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Thursday another US interest rate “may not be far off” as the labour market had improved since December, largely reiterating remarks made on the previous day.

Bullard, who voted to support the Fed’s decision in March to keep interest rates unchanged, said: "As it turns out, the decision to pause seems to have put more weight on the global and U.S. growth downgrade," he said in prepared remarks.”

Nonetheless, in remarks made to Bloomberg on Wednesday he had added that officials might not have enough additional data on the US economy to persuade them to make a move when they next meet.

Yahoo in focus

In corporate news, Yahoo’s stock price eked out a small gain after starting the day noticeably weaker on the back of a report that hedge fund Starboard Value LP was looking to remove the entire board of the company.

Signet Jewelers gained after reporting a 19% increase in quarterly profit that surpassed expectations.

Shares in Athletic apparel retailer Finish Line Inc. slumped despite posting fourth quarter profit and sales that beat estimates, but managed to end the session in the green.

From a sector stand-point, the worst performing industrial groups were: US life insurance (-2.21%), Airlines (-2.06%), Defence (-1.45%) and Marine transportation (1.26%).

Going the other way, the best performance was seen in: Business support services (2.87%), Aluminium (2.68%) and Industrial metals (2.35%).

S&P 500 - Risers
PVH Corp. (PVH) $94.29 +7.60%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $10.76 +7.01%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $2.56 +6.67%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $15.78 +6.33%
Accenture Plc (ACN) $114.30 +6.17%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $10.94 +4.79%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $10.11 +3.69%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.25 +2.91%
Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $121.42 +2.89%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $26.47 +2.76%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Pepco Holdings Inc. (POM) $0.00 -100.00%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $15.35 -5.60%
Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) $2.67 -4.98%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $33.23 -4.51%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $38.92 -3.95%
Gen Dynamics Corp. (GD) $129.08 -3.90%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $27.98 -3.55%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $40.50 -3.39%
United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) $57.84 -3.18%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $31.94 -3.12%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $75.29 +2.19%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $147.95 +1.75%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $94.85 +1.35%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $53.56 +1.23%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $68.00 +0.80%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $27.96 +0.47%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $54.21 +0.44%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $97.22 +0.40%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $63.95 +0.31%
Visa Inc. (V) $74.14 +0.31%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $61.65 -1.27%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $128.59 -0.92%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $59.48 -0.77%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $123.29 -0.72%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $153.00 -0.70%
Boeing Co. (BA) $132.12 -0.56%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $105.67 -0.43%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $115.39 -0.43%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $31.88 -0.38%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $30.08 -0.36%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $4.02 +4.69%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $69.76 +3.46%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $51.08 +2.63%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $582.95 +2.34%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $227.75 +2.32%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $60.32 +2.13%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $155.34 +1.84%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $370.80 +1.48%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $91.32 +1.38%
Liberty Interactive Corporation QVC Group (QVCA) $24.74 +1.35%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $33.23 -4.51%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $40.50 -3.39%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $51.46 -2.28%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $198.34 -1.97%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $26.36 -1.42%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $10.50 -1.41%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $151.43 -1.35%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $57.41 -1.32%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $64.24 -1.25%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $98.36 -1.24%