U.S. Stocks Advance on Jobless Claims, Manufacturing Reports

Nichole Harper
22 Aug, 2013
New York City

U.S. stocks advanced after manufacturing reports at home and in China showed an advance. Initial jobless claims rose 13,000 but 4-week average declined. Sears net loss widens and Abercrombie net plunged 33%. HP net swung to quarterly profit.

[R]11:15 AM New York – U.S. stocks advanced after manufacturing reports at home and in China showed an advance. Initial jobless claims rose 13,000 but 4-week average declined. Sears net loss widens and Abercrombie net plunged 33%. HP net swung to quarterly profit.[/R]

U.S. stocks traded higher on manufacturing report and jobless claims hovered near multi-year low.

The Fed statement showed a broad support for the early withdrawal of stimulus program however several participants expressed a view to hold off any action till more economic data are available.

The lack of clarity on the next move by the Fed left market participants guessing.

The S&P 500 index increased 12.28 or 0.7% to 1,655.08 and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 35.77 or 1% to 3,635.50.

In a separate report, preliminary index of factory activities in the U.S. increased to 53.9 in August from 53.7 in July, Markit Economics said today. The private report showed best manufacturing activities since March.

Separately, a private survey in China showed manufacturing index increased to a four-month high in August on rising new orders.

A preliminary survey from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics indicated its purchasing managers index increased to 50.1 from 47.7.

The improvement in manufacturing sector is China follows the weakest reading in the sector in July in a year.

Weekly Jobless Claims Rise 13,000

Initial jobless claims at the end of last week increased 13,000 to 336,000, Labor Department said in a report today.

The four-week moving average of claims that smoothens weekly fluctuations declined to 330,500 and monthly claims declined for the sixth month in a row.

The four-week average has declined 5% in the last one month.

The continuing claims for unemployment after an initial week of jobless benefits increased 29,000 to about 3 million in the week ending on August 10.

U.S. Stocks in Review

Abercrombie & Fitch ((ANF)) plummeted 19% after the teenage apparel retailer reported second-quarter earnings of 16 cents a share, lower than the company estimate of 28 cents a share.

Barrick Gold Corp increased 3% after the company received an interest for its Granny Smith, Lawlers, and Darlot gold mines in Australia from Gold Fields Ltd for $300 million.

Hewlett Packard ((HWP)) plunged 12% after the struggling technology giant estimated fiscal fourth quarter adjusted earnings between 98 cents and $1.02 a share.

Sears Holding Corp ((SHLD)) declined 4% after the shrinking retailer said second-quarter loss widened to $194 million and sales declined 6.3% to $8.87 billion. Sales in the quarter were driven by its discount program. Shop Your Way loyalty program accounted for 65% of all sales.

Yahoo ((YHOO)) gained 2% after ComScore Inc said July traffic at Yahoo controlled sites increased to 196 million users, 4.3 million more than Google sites. Yahoo traffic surpassed Google web traffic for the first time since May 2011.