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Stocks flat on last trading day before Christmas
Source: Agencies |
December 24, 2010, Friday
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STOCKS were mixed in light trading yesterday after reports showed small improvements in consumer spending and the job market.
The Commerce Department said that consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in November from the month before. That was slightly below analysts' forecast of a 0.5 percent gain.
Separately, the Labor Department said the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits for the first time fell by 3,000 last week to 420,000, in line with Wall Street estimates. That number is just low enough to indicate modest job growth.
"While you did not see a marked drop in the jobless numbers, there is a steady decline," said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial. "When you look at the four-week moving average, it suggests that we are starting to see a floor in initial unemployment claims."
The Commerce Department also reported that sales of new homes increased 5.5 percent in November to an annual rate of 290,000, just below what analysts were expecting. Orders for manufactured goods, excluding the transportation industry, rose by the largest amount in eight months.
In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 9 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,568. The Standard and Poor's 500-stock index fell 2, or 0.2 percent, to 1,257. The Nasdaq composite index fell 7, or 0.3 percent, to 2,664.
Alcoa gained 1.8 percent to US$15.41 to lead the 30 stocks that make up the Dow average. Bank of America Corp. had the largest fall. It lost 2 percent to US$13.11.
Thursday is the last trading day before the Christmas holiday, and volume is expected to be thin.
In corporate news, Jo-Ann Stores Inc. said it would be bought by a private equity firm for US$1.6 billion. The stock rose 33 percent to US$60.46.
Bond prices fell slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.38 percent from 3.35 percent late Wednesday.
The dollar fell 0.3 percent against an index of six heavily-traded currencies.
The Commerce Department said that consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in November from the month before. That was slightly below analysts' forecast of a 0.5 percent gain.
Separately, the Labor Department said the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits for the first time fell by 3,000 last week to 420,000, in line with Wall Street estimates. That number is just low enough to indicate modest job growth.
"While you did not see a marked drop in the jobless numbers, there is a steady decline," said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial. "When you look at the four-week moving average, it suggests that we are starting to see a floor in initial unemployment claims."
The Commerce Department also reported that sales of new homes increased 5.5 percent in November to an annual rate of 290,000, just below what analysts were expecting. Orders for manufactured goods, excluding the transportation industry, rose by the largest amount in eight months.
In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 9 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,568. The Standard and Poor's 500-stock index fell 2, or 0.2 percent, to 1,257. The Nasdaq composite index fell 7, or 0.3 percent, to 2,664.
Alcoa gained 1.8 percent to US$15.41 to lead the 30 stocks that make up the Dow average. Bank of America Corp. had the largest fall. It lost 2 percent to US$13.11.
Thursday is the last trading day before the Christmas holiday, and volume is expected to be thin.
In corporate news, Jo-Ann Stores Inc. said it would be bought by a private equity firm for US$1.6 billion. The stock rose 33 percent to US$60.46.
Bond prices fell slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.38 percent from 3.35 percent late Wednesday.
The dollar fell 0.3 percent against an index of six heavily-traded currencies.
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