Upbeat Earnings, Oil Jump Lead To Record Close On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday, more than offsetting the modest losses posted in the previous session. With the upward move on the day, the major averages reached new record closing highs.

The major averages moved roughly sideways in afternoon trading, hovering firmly in positive territory. The Dow advanced 117.86 points or 0.6 percent to 18,613.52, the Nasdaq rose 23.81 points or 0.5 percent to 5,228.40 and the S&P 500 climbed 10.30 points or 0.5 percent to 2,185.79.

Early buying interest was generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news from retailers Macy's (M) and Kohl's (KSS).

Shares of Macy's and Kohl's shot up by 17.1 percent and 16.2 percent, respectively after both companies reported better than expected second quarter results.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (BABA) also posted a strong gain after reporting fiscal first quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates.

Stocks saw further upside amid a substantial increase by the price of crude oil, which rebounded after falling sharply on Wednesday.

After tumbling $1.06 to $41.71 a barrel in the previous session, crude oil for September delivery jumped $1.78 to $43.49 a barrel

The rebound by the price of crude oil came after Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister said oil producing nations may discuss possible action to stabilize the market at a meeting next month.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report before the start of trading showing that initial jobless claims edged slightly lower in the week ended August 6th.

The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 266,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 267,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 265,000.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed an unexpected uptick in import prices in the month of July.

Sector News

Benefiting from the sharp increase by the price of crude oil, energy stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside on the day.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index surged up by 2.5 percent, while the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index jumped by 1.7 percent and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index rose by 1 percent.

Electronic storage stocks also saw considerable strength, resulting in a 1.3 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. Nimble Storage (NMBL) led the storage sector higher, soaring by 6.1 percent.

Airline, biotechnology, and steel stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while commercial real estate stocks bucked the uptrend.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in yet another mixed performance on Thursday, with the Japanese markets closed on the day. While Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.4 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved higher on the day. The French CAC 40 Index surged up by 1.2 percent, while the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved back to the downside amid the strength on Wall Street. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 6.4 basis points to 1.573 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Friday may be impacted by reaction to U.S. reports on retail sales, producer prices, and consumer sentiment.

On the earnings front, Dillard's (DDS), Nordstrom (JWN), Nvidia (NVDA), and Ruby Tuesday (RT) are among the companies release their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.

Department store chain J.C. Penney (JCP) is also due to report its second quarter results before the start of trading on Friday.