Nasdaq Sets Record High Amid Modest Strength On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks once again shrugged off some early volatility to move mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. With the upward move on the day, the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the session at a new record closing high.

The major averages gave back ground going into the close but managed to remain in positive territory. While the Nasdaq rose 20.89 points or 0.4 percent to 5,056.06, the Dow inched up 20.42 points or 0.1 percent to 18,058.69 and the S&P 500 edged up 4.97 points or 0.2 percent to 2,112.93.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from big-name companies.

Telecom giant AT&T (T) and e-commerce giant eBay (EBAY) both moved notably higher after reporting their quarterly results.

The reaction to the earnings news wasn't all been positive, however, with General Motors (GM) and 3M (MMM) showing notable moves to the downside.

Facebook (FB), Qualcomm (QCOM), Caterpillar (CAT), PepsiCo (PEP), and Procter & Gamble (PG) were among the other big-name companies that reported earnings.

Traders also expressed some optimism that the Federal Reserve will delay its planned increase in interest rates following the release of disappointing housing data.

The Commerce Department said new home sales plunged 11.4 percent to an annual rate of 481,000 in March after jumping 5.6 percent to a revised rate of 543,000 in February. Economists had expected new home sales to drop to an annual rate of 518,000.

With the bigger than expected decrease, the annual rate of new home sales gave back ground after reaching a seven-year high in February.

Rob Carnell, chief international economist at ING, said, "There is some possibility of weather being at play in these numbers, with abnormally cold weather in the North East in March, and abnormally wet weather in the South, the two regions seeing the biggest declines in sales."

"So for now, the jury remains out in terms of any data bounce," he added. "But the coming dataflow over the coming days is unlikely to rescue June rate hike thoughts, being dominated by what looks likely to be a terrible 1Q15 GDP figure."

A separate report from the Labor Department showed an unexpected uptick in initial jobless claims in the week ended April 18th, although claims remained below 300,000.

Sector News

Steel stocks showed a substantial move to the upside over the course of the trading day, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 4.5 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in nearly two months.

Reliance Steel (RS) helped to lead the sector higher, jumping by 9.1 percent after reporting better than expected first quarter results and providing upbeat guidance.

Considerable strength was also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 3.4 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The strength in the sector came as crude for June delivery surged up $1.58 to $57.74 a barrel.

Gold stocks also moved higher along with the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index advancing by 2.4 percent as gold for June delivery climbed $7.40 to $1,194.30 an ounce.

Biotechnology and networking also moved notably higher on the day, although significant weakness among housing and semiconductor stocks limited the upside for the markets.

Housing stocks moved lower on the disappointing new home sales data, while Texas Instruments (TXN) led the semiconductor sector lower after reporting weaker than expected first quarter results and providing disappointing guidance.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.4 percent.

The major European markets also turned mixed over the course of the trading day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dropped by 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved moderately higher after initially showing a lack of direction. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 2.5 basis points to 1.947 percent.

Looking Ahead

Another batch of earnings news will move into the spotlight on Friday, with Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOG), and Amazon (AMZN) among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.

American Airlines (AAL), Tyco (TYC), and Xerox (XRX) are also due to release their results before the start of trading on Friday.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its monthly report on durable goods orders.