|
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Blue chips gained and the broader market was mixed on Wednesday as a strong read on durable goods orders was offset by rising energy prices, which briefly topped $67 a barrel.
As of 6 p.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures pointed to a flat open for stocks when fair value is taken into account.
The Dow Jones industrial average (up 16.88 to 10,473.09, Charts) and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 1.23 to 1,216.89, Charts) index each added a few points, while the Nasdaq composite (down 1.02 to 2,115.40, Charts) ended nearly unchanged.
The major gauges had fallen to session lows in the midafternoon, reacting to a run-up in oil prices. Crude prices, however, gave back some gains near the close, allowing stocks to dig back out.
U.S. light crude oil for November delivery closed up $1.28 to settle at $66.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of around 2 percent. Earlier, crude had risen as high as $67.40 a barrel.
After the close, shares of Research in Motion (Research) declined 3 percent as investors took a "sell the news" approach to the company's improved quarterly earnings and forecast. The company makes the BlackBerry wireless device.
Stocks have been caught in a tight trading range over the last few weeks, amid a fluctuating energy market and worries about the economy in the wake of the recent hurricanes.
A government report Wednesday morning showed durable goods orders jumped 3.3 percent in August, trouncing estimates and bouncing back after July's slump.
However, since the report was for August, it did not reflect the impact of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. An onslaught of negative September and October reports are expected in the next few weeks and could add pressure to the already vulnerable stock market.
"I'm neutral on the market here, as I believe stocks will be caught in a range as investors try to figure out the story of inflation and economic growth going forward," said Barry Hyman, equity strategist at Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum.
Thursday brings the final read on gross domestic product growth in the second quarter. GDP is expected to have grown at a 3.3 percent annualized rate, economists forecast, unchanged from an earlier read.
What moved?
Gains in select components gave a lift to the Dow 30, with IBM (up $1.51 to $79.50, Research), Microsoft (up $0.33 to $25.67, Research), Verizon Communications (up $0.56 to $32.41, Research) and SBC Communications (up $0.26 to $23.90, Research) all bouncing.
But Caterpillar (down $1.17 to $57.55, Research) weighed on the Dow as investors mulled whether the company would be hurt by a UBS downgrade of farm-machinery seller Agco (down $0.60 to $18.26, Research).
Shares of Fannie Mae (Research) slumped nearly 11 percent on a report that said regulators investigating the mortgage leader have found new accounting violations.
Delphi (down $0.10 to $2.65, Research) slumped 3 percent after the CEO of the auto parts supplier said he would suggest to the board that the company file for bankruptcy protection next month, unless it can quickly cut costs, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Earlier in the session, Delphi had risen on reports that it was in talks with unions and former parent General Motors about a possible restructuring.
Apple (down $2.36 to $51.08, Research) stock fell 4.4 percent after the company acknowledged that customers had complained about flaws in its new iPod nano digital music player.
Incyte (down $2.97 to $4.27, Research) plunged 41 percent in active Nasdaq trading on news that U.S. regulators won't approve late-stage trials of its HIV treatment Reverset.
On the upside, NRG Energy (up $1.52 to $43.05, Research) rose 3.7 percent on news that the power plant operator is in talks to purchase Texas plant operator Genco Holdings in a deal that could be worth more than $5 billion, according to a news report published Wednesday.
Paychex (up $3.16 to $37.25, Research) jumped more than 9 percent a day after the payroll processor said quarterly earnings rose 31 percent to beat Wall Street estimates.
Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers narrowly edged out winners on volume of 1.57 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers by four to three on volume of 1.74 billion shares.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.26 percent, from 4.28 percent late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The dollar edged lower against the euro and the yen.
COMEX gold rose $6.90 to settle at $473.10 an ounce.
|
