Stocks Close Mostly Higher After Lackluster Trading Day - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After turning in a lackluster performance for much of the session, stocks managed to end Wednesday's trading mostly higher. The gains lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs, while the Nasdaq reached its best levels since 2000.

The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the Dow edged up only 12.81 points or 0.1 percent to 17,827.75. The Nasdaq advanced 29.07 points or 0.6 percent to 4,787.32 and the S&P 500 climbed 5.80 points or 0.3 percent to 2,072.83.

The choppy trading seen for most of the day came as traders digested a slew of U.S. economic data, with the release of some reports pushed forward by the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday.

The Labor Department released a report before the start of trading showing an unexpected increase in initial jobless claims in the week ended November 22nd.

A series of reports from the Commerce Department showed modest increases in personal income and spending and new home sales as well as an unexpected rebound in durable goods orders.

Traders were also presented with weaker than expected readings on consumer sentiment, pending home sales, and Chicago-area business activity.

The buying interest that emerged over the course of the session partly reflected the recent upward momentum for the markets.

Nonetheless, trading activity remained relatively subdued, as some traders were already away from their desks ahead of the holiday on Thursday.

Among individual stocks, shares of Veeva Systems (VEEV) moved sharply higher on the day after the provider of cloud-based software services for the life sciences industry reported better than expected third quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.

Tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) also turned in a strong performance despite reporting weaker than expected fourth quarter revenues and providing lackluster guidance.

On the other hand, shares of TiVo (TIVO) came under pressure after the maker of digital video recorders reported third quarter earnings that came in below analyst estimates.

Sector News

Contributing to the notable advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, semiconductor stocks saw considerable strength throughout the session. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged up by 2.1 percent to its best closing level in over thirteen years.

Analog Devices (ADI) helped to lead the semiconductor sector higher, jumping by 5.5 percent after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results.

Significant strength also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. The gain lifted the index to a new record closing high.

Commercial real estate, computer hardware, and pharmaceutical stocks also saw some strength on the day, although buying interest was somewhat subdued.

On the other hand, oil service stocks showed a substantial move to the downside, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.8 percent. The weakness in the sector came as crude oil for January delivery slid $0.40 to a four-year closing low of $73.69 a barrel.

Gold and natural gas stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, helping to limit the upside for the broader markets.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, most stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region moved higher on Wednesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. However, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

In the bond market, treasuries moved modestly higher, extending the strong upward move seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 2.6 basis points to 2.234 percent.

Looking Ahead

Following the holiday on Thursday, activity is likely to be subdued when trading resumes on Friday due to the abbreviated session and a lack of major U.S. economic data.