Stocks Fluctuate But Manage To Close Mostly Higher - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks fluctuated throughout much of the trading day on Thursday but largely managed to maintain a positive bias. The gains on the day partly offset the pullback seen on Wednesday.

The major averages ended the session in positive territory but well off their best levels of the day. The Dow rose 76.83 points or 0.5 percent to 16,330.40, the Nasdaq advanced 39.72 points or 0.8 percent to 4,796.25 and the S&P 500 climbed 10.25 points or 0.5 percent to 1,952.29.

The higher close on Wall Street came on the heels of the notable downturn seen over the course of the previous session, reflecting continued volatility.

The wild swings shown by the markets in recent sessions come amid uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

Traders were also reacting to the latest batch of U.S. economic data, including the Labor Department's report on initial jobless claims in the week ended September 6th.

The report showed that jobless claims fell in line with economist estimates, dropping to 275,000 from the previous week's revised level of 281,000.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed that U.S. import prices fell more than expected in August amid another substantial decrease in fuel prices.

The Labor Department said import prices tumbled by 1.8 percent in August following an unrevised 0.9 percent decrease in July. Economists had expected import prices to drop by 1.6 percent.

The report also showed a steep drop in export prices, which slumped by 1.4 percent in August after falling by a revised 0.4 percent in July. Export prices had been expected to edge down by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a report unexpectedly showing a modest drop in wholesale inventories in the month of July.

Sector News

Despite the volatility shown by the broader markets, trucking stocks saw substantial strength throughout the trading day. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the Dow Jones Trucking Index surged up by 3.1 percent.

Con-Way (CNW) led the trucking sector higher, jumping by 33.8 percent after agreeing to be acquired by XPO Logistics (XPO) for $3 billion, including the assumption of debt.

Significant strength was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Incyte (INCY) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) posted standout gains.

Computer hardware, healthcare and internet stocks also saw some strength on the day, although most of the major sectors ended the day showing more modest moves.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 2.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged by 2.6 percent.

The major European markets also saw notable weakness on the day. While the German DAX Index dropped by 0.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index plummeted by 1.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved back to the downside after turning higher over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 4.1 basis points at 2.222 percent.

Looking Ahead

Reaction to the Labor Department's report on wholesale price inflation may attract some attention on Friday along with the University of Michigan's preliminary report on consumer sentiment.