US close: Corporate activity offsets geopolitical jitters
- Stocks recover despite geopolitical worries
- Treasury yields off sharply
- Mixed economic data
- Beverage stocks lead gains
Dow Jones Industrials: -0.30%
Nasdaq Composite: 0.27%
S&P 500: -0.01%
Stocks recovered towards the end of the trading day as markets continued to watch geopolitical developments, particularly in the Ukraine after the nation said Russia is still supplying rebels in the eastern part of the country with equipment.
More to the point, Ukraine's foreign minister claimed his country had destroyed a large portion of a Russian armoured column which had entered its sovereign territory.
NATO also said it was seeing a continuous flow of Russian weapons into the region.
In parallel, officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross began inspecting a convoy of trucks sent by Russia to provide humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine.
Mixed economic data
US stocks advanced after a report showed a larger-than-expected increase in industrial and manufacturing production.
Industrial output climbed 0.4% in July, the same rate of growth as the previous month and beating forecasts for a 0.3%.
Manufacturing production rose 1% in July following a 0.3% increase in June. Analysts had predicted a 0.4% gain.
"On balance, these data support our view that the economy remains fundamentally healthy and will strengthen in the second half of the year," said Capital Economics economist Paul Dales.
The above figures offset a disappointing New York Fed Empire Manufacturing report which fell to 14.69 in August from 25.6 in July, missing the consensus estimate of 20.
The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index for the month of August unexpectedly slipped to 79.2 from 81.8 the month before (consensus: 82.5). The expectations sub-index fell to 66.2 from 71.8, hitting its lowest mark since October.
US policymakers have been weighing data to determine whether the world's biggest economy has recovered enough to sustain an interest rate hike.
On Thursday, Federal Reserve St. Louis President James Bullard said he would still like to see the central bank raise interest rates for the first time this cycle in March 2015. "The end of the first quarter of 2015 is still my preferred lift-off date," Bullard said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
His opposite number at the Federal Reserve bank of Minneapolis, Narayana Kocherlakota, was more dovish, saying raising rates too early would be a mistake.
Monster rockets on Coca-Cola stake
On the company front, Monster Beverage Corp. surged after Coca-Cola Co. agreed to buy a stake in the company.
Shares in J.C. Penney Co. initially rallied but later fell back despite reporting a narrower second-quarter loss.
Applied Materials gained after forecasting fiscal fourth-quarter sales that may beat analysts' estimates.
From a sector standpoint the best performance was to be seen in the following industrial groups: Pipelines (2.05%), Soft drinks (1.78%) and Beverages (1.68%).
West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 1.74% to $97.24 per barrel, according to the ICE.
The US 10-year yield fell back sharply to 2.34%.
S&P 500 - Risers
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $93.49 +30.48%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $22.48 +7.20%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $171.30 +4.44%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $132.80 +4.29%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $74.79 +3.92%
Agilent Technologies Inc. (A) $57.58 +3.52%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $99.49 +3.25%
Cimarex Energy Co (XEC) $136.55 +2.50%
Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) $342.47 +2.34%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $333.63 +2.25%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $52.66 -5.61%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $39.64 -5.24%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $65.11 -5.21%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $43.82 -2.43%
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) $60.38 -2.22%
PVH Corp. (PVH) $110.50 -1.92%
L Brands Inc (LB) $61.60 -1.83%
Adt Corp (ADT) $36.41 -1.78%
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC) $51.27 -1.67%
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $46.37 -1.53%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $40.88 +1.74%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $44.79 +1.17%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $89.28 +0.76%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.17 +0.68%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $93.79 +0.14%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $65.25 +0.08%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $105.74 +0.08%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Visa Inc. (V) $210.19 -1.10%
General Electric Co. (GE) $25.64 -0.93%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $101.17 -0.83%
American Express Co. (AXP) $86.60 -0.77%
Boeing Co. (BA) $123.16 -0.77%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $126.10 -0.68%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $73.90 -0.66%
AT&T Inc. (T) $34.74 -0.49%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $171.90 -0.48%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $24.43 -0.45%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $93.49 +30.48%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $22.48 +7.20%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $171.30 +4.44%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $132.80 +4.29%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $74.79 +3.92%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $99.49 +3.25%
Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) $342.47 +2.34%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $333.63 +2.25%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $459.09 +1.82%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $43.49 +1.68%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $52.66 -5.61%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $43.82 -2.43%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $55.49 -1.40%
Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $40.60 -1.31%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $151.94 -1.29%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $61.30 -1.18%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,270.12 -1.14%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $73.63 -0.90%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $65.55 -0.83%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $11.49 -0.78%
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