US stocks rose slightly on Thursday, led by technology companies including Cisco Systems and Microsoft and energy companies such as Exxon Mobil, as investors edged their way back toward riskier areas of the market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain of 5.74 points (0.06%) to 10,255.28, the measure's second consecutive gain. It was the Dow's first two-day gain since late April.
Cisco was the Dow's best performer, with a gain of 37 cents (1.6%) to $23.72, while Microsoft climbed 40 cents (1.5%) to $26.86. Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday that the era of the personal computer is far from over.
Exxon Mobil jumped 79 cents (1.3%) to $61.56, lifted by a jump in crude-oil futures. Crude prices rose on confusion over the Obama administration's policy on offshore drilling. Reports said a federal moratorium on new offshore drilling permits would expand to include shallow water, prompting concerns over reduced supply. The Interior Department later denied there was a wider ban, although industry officials said the agency has rescinded drilling permits.The Nasdaq Composite advanced 21.96 (0.96%) to 2,303.03. The Standard & Poor's 500 edged up 4.45 (0.41%) to 1,102.83, with the technology and energy sectors leading the gains. However, the materials sector sagged as investors continued to fret over how demand could be hurt by China putting the brakes on its rapid growth.
Among Thursday's US economic data, weekly jobless claims fell more than expected. Meanwhile, private-sector jobs were added last month, according to Automatic Data Processing, but fewer were added than economists had expected. Still, investors found the reports encouraging for the government's monthly nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday morning.
Investors were disappointed by the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index, which held at 55.4 in May, the same reading as in April and March. Forecasters had expected the May PMI to edge up to 56.0.
Retailers provided further indications of a choppy recovery in consumer spending, even as most stores again reported higher monthly sales over easy year-ago comparisons. Nordstrom fell $1.73 (4.3%) to $38.52, as it was among the retailers whose May same-store sales missed analysts' expectations. Those whose same-store sales exceeded estimates included Aeropostale and Ross Stores. Aeropostale climbed $1.62 (5.7%) to $30.01. Ross Stores advanced $1.95 (3.6%) to $56.19.
AutoNation jumped 84 cents (4.1%) to $21.32, after the auto retailer reported stronger-than-expected May sales. The company said May new vehicle unit sales jumped 22% to 19,283 from the previous year, with domestic sales up 28%, import sales up 21% and premium luxury sales up 15%.
Family Dollar Stores fell $1.43 (3.6%) to $38.66. The dollar-store operator posted a 7% increase in fiscal third-quarter same-store sales and said its earnings for the quarter will be near the upper end of its previously given forecast. However, Wall Street had been looking for earnings slightly above the company's projections.
Joy Global added $1.36 (2.6%) to $53.81. The maker of mining equipment and replacement parts reported flat fiscal second-quarter earnings as revenue fell much less than expected. The company also raised its earnings forecast for the year as increasing demand drove orders higher.
FirstEnergy rose 75 cents (2.2%) to $35.57. The power company finalised a deal for $57.4m of federal grants to help fund its plans of introducing smart-grid technologies to its electric distribution infrastructure in its operating areas.
For Australian ADRs listed on the NYSE, BHP Billiton lost $1.19 (1.83%) to $63.71, Rio Tinto Plc dipped 35 cents (0.75%) to $46.36, ResMed firmed 54 cents (0.83%) to $65.52, Telstra Corporation strengthened 31 cents (2.44%) to $13.02, Telecom Corporation of NZ declined 8 cents (1.24%) to $6.37 and Westpac gained 55 cents (0.57%) to $96.85.
At 7:45 AM (AEST), the 10-year Treasury note yield was 3.36% and the five year yield was 2.15%.
European shares advanced for the fourth straight session on Thursday, with commodity-sector firms leading broad-based gains for the region as data painted a brighter picture for the economic backdrop.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 1.4% to 248.82.
Unlike during other sessions this week when the index struggled into positive territory toward the end of the trading day, shares gained from the outset on Thursday.
Of regional benchmarks in Europe, the UK FTSE 100 index added 1.2% to 5,211.18, the German DAX index climbed 1.2% to 6,054.63 and the French CAC-40 index gained 1.6% to 3,557.34.
Of European companies updating investors, Air France-KLM shares rallied 6.1% after it said that it carried 6.2m passengers in May, up 1.6% from the year-ago period, while load factor - a measure of passengers to available seats - rose to 80.6% from 77.3%. The figures reflect an improvement in the economic environment as well as prudent capacity management, the airline said.
British Airways, up 1.8%, said that its passenger traffic in May, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, fell 11.5% compared with the year-earlier period, hit by cabin-crew strikes. However, the airline said the industrial action reduced capacity by just 6%. Load factor fell to 69.7% from 75.1%.
Shares of Ryanair Holdings rose 2.8%. Europe's largest no-frills airline said it carried 6.44m passengers in May, up 17%, compared with the year-ago period, while load factor was flat at 81%.
Shares of French auto-parts maker Valeo jumped 7.5%. It expects to produce sales of around EUR4.7bn in the first half of 2010, up 35% from the same period last year. Operating margin for the period is expected at close to 6% of sales, which would be the firm's highest half-year margin for eight years, it said.
Novartis, up 1%, reported that Afinitor, a drug targeted at advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours, met its primary endpoint in a Phase III study.
Still, Ahold shares underperformed, rising just 0.4%. The Amsterdam supermarket operator reported that its first-quarter net income rose 46% to EUR274m while sales rose 1% to EUR8.74bn.
On the FTSE 100, Rio Tinto advanced 33.00 pence (1.05%) to 3,227.89 pence and BHP Billiton slid 16.50 pence (0.89%) to 1,883.68 pence.
Asian stock markets ended mostly higher on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average marking its biggest rise of the year as exporters cheered the yen's fall.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended up 3.2% at 9,914.19, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.6%.
China's Shanghai Composite was left out of the regional cheer, falling 0.7% on persistent fears about the mainland's economy. Data earlier this week showed a slowdown in growth of factory activity, and many investors remain concerned that Beijing will take further steps to fight inflation and cool the overheated property market.
New Zealand shares ended off-highs as the continuing lack of local drivers kept most investors on the sidelines despite strong offshore markets. The NZX-50 Index ended up 0.2%, or 5.21 points, at 3,024.10, after being up 0.9% in the morning.
Metals on the London Metal Exchange fell on Thursday, hitting multi-month lows. Aluminium fell $37 (1.86%) to $1,953 while copper weakened $160 (2.39%) to $6,530 and nickel dropped $1,250 (6.28%) to $18,650. Zinc shed $65 (3.59%) to $1,745 and lead lost $60 (3.53%) to $1,640.
Comex copper was last quoted at 296.50 US cents per pound.
Gold futures tumbled, when some speculators sold to exit from positions as some of the recent safe-haven demand abated and the US dollar strengthened. The decline accelerated sharply when prices fell through key technical chart levels that prompted further selling. Spot gold was last quoted at $1,205.10. Comex gold futures slipped $12.60 (1.03%) to $1,210.00. Spot silver was last quoted at $17.94.
Crude rose on news reports that a federal moratorium on new offshore drilling permits would expand to include shallow water. West Texas Intermediate was last quoted at US$74.61 per barrel.
At 07:45 a.m. (AET) the US dollar was quoted at 0.8223 euros, 92.56 yen, 1.188 AUD and 68.41 pence.