Nasdaq Crosses 4,000; Oil Futures Down 1% on Iran Deal

Nichole Harper
25 Nov, 2013
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street fell in quiet trading as investors look to lock in gains for the year. The dollar gained and crude oil futures prices declined after a deal with Iran and Western powers. Pending home sale index in October eased 0.6%. In the year so far, the Nasdaq index has gained 33%.

[R]1:15 PM New York – Stocks on Wall Street fell in quiet trading as investors look to lock in gains for the year. The dollar gained and crude oil futures prices declined after a deal with Iran and Western powers. Pending home sale index in October eased 0.6%.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street traded sideways after initial surge at the opening and Nasdaq Index crossed 4,000 mark for the first time since 2000.

S&P 500 index increased 0.85 to 1,805.61 and the Nasdaq Composite index added 6.21 to 3,997.86.

The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds traded at 2.74% and 30-year bond hovered near 3.83%.

The dollar traded at $1.3502 against one euro and the yen dropped to a 4-year low of 101.70. Indian rupee eased gained 0.2% after the Iranian deal with Western nations is likely to increase flow of crude oil supply in the region.

Pending Home Sales Fall

The pending home sale index declined 0.6% in October, a fall for the fifth month in a row according to National Association of Realtors report released today.

The seasonally adjusted index declined 1.6% from a year ago level and the decline was driven by the government shutdown, falling inventories and higher borrowing costs.

Pending sales increased in the Northeast and Midwest but declined in the South and West. In the western region, the sales declined 4.1% from September and dropped 12.1% from a year ago month.

U.S. Stocks in Review

ADT Corp ((ADT)) declined 6% to $41.01 after the company agreed to buy back 10.2 million shares from the hedge fund Corvex Management LP for $44.01 a share and the founder of the hedge fund Keith Meister agreed to step down from the ADT board.

DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc ((DVA)) increased 8% to $61.23 after the dialysis and kidney care services providers gained and U.S. regulators canceled 9.4% cut in Medicare payments to dialysis providers.

Microsoft Corporation ((MSFT)) rose 20 cents to $37.77 after the software products maker reported it sold more than one million Xbox One video-game consoles in less than a day after the launch of console in 13 countries.

The Xbox One was launched in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. and the company cut eight countries from the initial sales list, citing production issues.

Qualcomm ((QCOM)) declined 1.4% to $71.94 after the largest maker of smartphone chips was the focus of initial investigation in China conducted by National Development and Reform Commission.

Qualcomm generates 49% of its chip sales in China.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ((WMT)) gained 39 cents to $80.20 after the retailer said its board elected Doug McMillon to succeed Mike Duke as its president and chief executive, effective February 1.