NEW YORK, July 29 — Wall Street edged higher today on strong corporate earnings including Exxon Mobil and after a drop in weekly jobless claims offered a glimmer of hope for the anemic labor market recovery.
Initial claims for state unemployment insurance dropped by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 457,000 in the latest week, versus the forecast of 459,000. Still, continuing claims rose more than expected.
Exxon Mobil Corp, the S&P’s largest company by market capitalization, rose 1.2 per cent to US$61.66 (RM196) after reporting a better-than-expected quarterly profit.
The S&P energy sector added nearly 1 per cent, also boosted by a 1.1 per cent advance in crude futures.
“The Exxon profit news this morning was positive, said Janna Sampson, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois. “We’re in a sideways trading market, reacting to good profits versus bad profits, with no real driver.”
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 37.09 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 10,534.97. The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 3.03 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 1,109.16. The Nasdaq Composite edged up 1.16 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 2,265.72.
Technical measures such as the daily moving average convergence-divergence indicate the S&P 500 is in a strong position to rise, even though it has failed to close above its 200-day simple moving average since Monday. It briefly traded above the 200-day SMA Thursday morning.
“The key now for the (S&P 500) is to hold above the 50-day line, near 1,080, which if it can, would put a lot of stress (on short-sellers)”, technical analysts at Instinet said.
France’s Sanofi-Aventis plans to formally offer up to $18.7 billion for Genzyme Corp after its informal overture failed, sources said. Genzyme shares rose 3.4 per cent to US$70.26.
Further supporting equities, euro zone economic sentiment rose to a 28-month high in July while German unemployment fell to its lowest level since November 2008, boosting hopes for a pick-up in the consumer sector.
Capping gains on the Nasdaq, Symantec Corp fell 8.3 percent to US$13.45 a day after the world’s No. 1 security software maker warned second-quarter sales and profit would likely miss estimates.
Also, chipmaker Nvidia Corp dropped 7.8 percent to US$9.34 a day after it slashed its second-quarter sales outlook.
The PHLX semiconductor index fell 1.5 per cent. — Reuters
