US close: Stocks eke out small gains as energy sector lends support
US stocks eked out small gains on Tuesday, reversing early losses on the back of geopolitical concerns amid strength in the energy sector.
Stocks had kicked off the session in the red as it emerged that a Turkish military jet had shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, after it had allegedly entered Turkish airspace and ignored warnings to return.
But stronger oil prices lifted energy shares, helping US equities to end mostly in the black.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 ended up 0.1%, while the the Nasdaq closed flat.
Oil prices rebounded, with West Texas Intermediate gaining 2.8% to $42.90 a barrel and Brent crude rising 3% to $46.16 a barrel amid mounting geopolitical tensions.
Exxon and Chevron were among the top gainers.
On the downside, though airline stocks stalled on the back of rising oil prices and following the State Department’s worldwide travel alert late on Monday, which pointed to “increased terrorism threats”.
On the corporate front, high-end jeweller Tiffany & Co. rallied despite issuing a profit warning, while Dollar Tree surged even though it missed quarterly profit targets.
Campbell Soups was also on the front foot after it raised its earnings outlook for the full year.
US GDP revised higher
US economic growth was revised higher in the third quarter as expected, the Commerce Department revealed on Tuesday.
The second estimate of gross domestic product was raised to an annualised 2.1% from a previous 1.5%. GDP rose 3.9% in the second quarter.
“Real gross domestic income was much stronger than GDP, at 3.1%, suggesting scope for further upward revision to GDP in due course,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"We look for 3% Q4 GDP, a bit less than previously because the scope for an inventory rebound has been greatly reduced by the revised Q3 numbers.”
Meanwhile, the S&P/Case-Shiller index rose 0.2% in the three months to the end of September, while house prices rose 5.5% year-on-year compared with a 5.1% gain in the previous month.
On a month-on-month basis, prices rose 0.6% compared with a 0.1% gain in the previous month and analysts' expectations for a 0.3% advance.
Elsewhere, figures showed US consumer confidence declined unexpectedly in November.
Confidence among US consumers declined from an upwardly revised 99.1 to 90.4 in November, below the 99.5 reading analysts had expected.
The dollar fell 0.1% and 0.3% against the euro and the yen respectively but gained 0.3% against the pound, while spot gold rose 0.6% to $1,075.62.
S&P 500 - Risers
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $5.50 +7.00%
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $48.84 +6.82%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $74.16 +6.63%
Rowan Companies plc (RDC) $20.42 +6.41%
Baxalta Incorporated (BXLT) $35.67 +6.38%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $60.42 +6.37%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $18.50 +5.53%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $58.49 +5.18%
Fossil Group Inc (FOSL) $38.81 +4.69%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $33.69 +4.63%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $45.71 -6.00%
Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $135.11 -3.94%
Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $47.24 -3.08%
United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) $56.80 -3.01%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $121.27 -2.92%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $67.06 -2.78%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $46.22 -2.62%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $41.23 -2.53%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $82.98 -2.15%
Simon Property Group Inc. (SPG) $187.23 -2.02%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $31.98 +2.06%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.91 +2.03%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $91.35 +1.49%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $67.41 +1.34%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $118.88 +0.96%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $43.36 +0.93%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $113.20 +0.93%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $133.64 +0.86%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $76.46 +0.64%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $71.41 +0.55%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $117.96 -1.22%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $53.47 -1.00%
American Express Co. (AXP) $71.64 -0.83%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $97.34 -0.76%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $102.04 -0.71%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $59.90 -0.60%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $27.27 -0.57%
3M Co. (MMM) $157.82 -0.52%
Visa Inc. (V) $79.81 -0.37%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.36 -0.35%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $48.84 +6.82%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $74.16 +6.63%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $60.42 +6.37%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $83.34 +6.08%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $62.95 +4.52%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $24.37 +3.48%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $128.34 +3.16%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $105.50 +2.92%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $79.72 +2.57%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $38.27 +2.57%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $67.06 -2.78%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $41.23 -2.53%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $39.86 -2.18%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $82.98 -2.15%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,240.18 -1.91%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $41.63 -1.82%
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $3.37 -1.75%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $289.15 -1.73%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $123.31 -1.38%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $36.85 -1.34%