US close: Stocks and oil prices move higher as crude inventories fall
Wall Street ended Wednesday in the green, even as investors keep an eye on bond yields and geopolitical concerns weigh on sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 0.25% at 24,768.93, the S&P 500 added 0.41% to 2,722.46, and the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6% to 6,929.97.
Stocks ended lower on Tuesday as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note crept back above 3% - to its highest point since 2011.
“Though the Fed's Williams reiterated his stance as regards the need for three to four rate hikes from the Fed this year, the move looks to have been prompted by a firm retail sales print for April (+0.3%) while March figures were revised to show growth of 0.8%,” noted analysts at Rabobank.
They added that the joint probability of a September and a December hike is now around 50%, higher than it has ever been this year.
Also weighing sentiment was news that North Korea has suspended talks with South Korea over the continuation of military drills with the US, and threatened to pull out of a planned summit with the US if it continues to pressure it to unilaterally abandon its nuclear weapons programme.
In economic news, the rate of US new home construction fell for the second time in four months, dragged down by starts on apartment buildings, adding to concerns for a housing market already weighed down by tight supply and rising prices.
New housing starts fell 3.7% in April to an annualised pace of 1.287m, according to the Census Bureau, a steeper decline than the 0.7% drop to 1.31m predicted by analysts.
Elsewhere, a report released by the Federal Reserve revealed that industrial production in the US increased a touch more than anticipated last month.
The Fed said industrial production climbed by 0.7% in April, just above the 0.6% rise predicted by economists.
Oil prices were higher, after reports confirmed a fall in US stockpiles last week, as well as a record high rate of exports.
Gasoline inventories also dropped more than expected ahead of the summer driving season, according to the fresh data from the Energy Information Administration.
The figures came after OPEC published data showing that inventories in OECD countries had dropped to 9m barrels above the five-year average from 340m at the start of last year.
Brent crude was last up 1.14% at $79.33 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate added 0.36% to $71.57.
In corporate news, department store chain Macy's surged 10.83% after reporting earnings before the opening bell, and Helios and Matheson Analytics gained 4.43% after the MoviePass owner recorded an earnings beat on a revenue miss.
Cisco Systems was down 3.79% in after-hours trading, as it reported third-quarter numbers slightly ahead of market forecasts.
Dow Jones - Risers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $71.34 2.65%
General Electric Co. (GE) $15.03 2.18%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $105.04 2.08%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $86.13 1.90%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $54.64 1.34%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $68.03 1.31%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $188.18 0.93%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $59.75 0.93%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $241.72 0.93%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $73.53 0.80%
Dow Jones - Fallers
3M Co. (MMM) $200.21 -1.12%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $186.38 -0.85%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $45.16 -0.70%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $41.55 -0.41%
Boeing Co. (BA) $340.97 -0.34%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $240.96 -0.25%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $97.15 -0.17%
American Express Co. (AXP) $100.59 -0.15%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $129.57 -0.14%
Visa Inc. (V) $130.89 -0.13%
S&P 500 - Risers
Spectra Energy Corp. (SE) $11.98 12.59%
Macy's Inc. (M) $33.17 10.83%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $20.52 8.69%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $3.94 5.93%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $87.02 4.87%
Assurant Inc. (AIZ) $93.94 4.70%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $56.50 4.61%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $37.51 4.60%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $15.46 4.53%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $16.64 4.26%
S&P 500 - Fallers
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $40.55 -2.85%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $74.59 -2.23%
Centerpoint Energy Inc. (CNP) $25.50 -2.15%
Tapestry Inc. (TPR) $44.34 -1.97%
Sempra Energy (SRE) $103.35 -1.81%
Boston Properties Inc. (BXP) $117.10 -1.59%
Essex Prty Trust Inc. (ESS) $230.12 -1.58%
Sl Green Realty Corp. (SLG) $95.14 -1.41%
ProLogis (PLD) $63.44 -1.31%
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) $81.18 -1.25%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $305.13 4.95%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $87.02 4.87%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $56.50 4.61%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $284.07 4.47%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $32.98 3.09%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $59.97 2.86%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $59.37 2.77%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $206.91 2.33%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $38.70 2.16%
Qurate Retail Group Inc QVC Group (QRTEA) $22.37 2.15%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $199.42 -4.55%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $26.60 -1.63%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $28.77 -1.07%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $94.49 -0.84%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $29.54 -0.84%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $81.36 -0.76%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $45.16 -0.70%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $183.20 -0.61%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $182.15 -0.55%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $96.40 -0.46%