stock markets

Stocks rose Tuesday as prospects of a conflict in Syria grew less likely. investors were relieved that Syria accepted a proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control for dismantling. The possibility that the crisis between the U.S. and Syria might be solved peacefully was a factor in the stock market’s gain on Monday, too.

Stocks posted their biggest gains in almost two months on Monday. Two big deals suggested growing confidence in the economy: Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus was sold for $6 billion, and Koch Industries bought electronics component maker Molex for $7.2 billion.

Stocks edged higher Thursday after release of a pair of positive economic reports. The encouraging reports came one day before the government releases its closely watched employment survey for August. Many investors believe that a strong report will ensure that Federal Reserve policymakers will decide to reduce, or “taper,” economic stimulus at their meeting later this month.

Stocks ended higher Wednesday, led by strong U.S. auto sales in August. “Car sales were really impressive,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York. They’re important for what they suggest about the larger economy: solid consumer spending and increased manufacturing. “It means the economy is holding up,” Cardillo said.

Stocks ended the day Tuesday slightly higher after an early rallied faded. Stocks surged in the opening minutes of trading as traders felt that a U.S. attack on Syria wasn’t imminent after President Barack Obama announced over the weekend that he would seek congressional approval for a strike.

Stocks posted mild gains Thursday following two good economic reports. The U.S. economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate from April through June, much faster than previously estimated, the government said. Also, the Labor Department said the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits last week fell to 331,000, the fewest in five years.

Stocks edged higher Wednesday as investors continued to focus on the likelihood of a U.S.-led attack on Syria. Energy stocks rose sharply as the price of oil increased to the highest in more than two years.

The increasing possibility of U.S. military strikes raised worries Tuesday on Wall Street that energy trade in the region could be disrupted, raising fuel costs for consumers and business.

Stocks slipped Monday after Secretary of State John Kerry said there was “undeniable” evidence of a large-scale chemical weapons attack in Syria last week, and suggested the administration was edging closer to a military response.

The stock market closed higher Friday, led by gains in Microsoft after CEO Steve Ballmer said he will retire. Ballmer took the helm of the software company from founder Bill Gates in 2000. The company has struggled to adapt as consumers switch from desktop computing to mobile devices.

Encouraging economic figures from Asia and Europe helped stocks advance and break a six-day losing streak for the Dow Jones industrial average. Trading on the Nasdaq was interrupted just after midday because of problems with a quote dissemination system and didn’t resume until shortly before the market closed.

The outage disrupted what had otherwise been a quiet summer day on Wall Street, and sent brokers and traders scurrying to figure out what went wrong. It was the latest in a growing list of snafus to hit financial markets, though hardly as stunning as the “flash crash” that set off a sudden stock-market plunge in May 2010.

Stocks sank for the sixth day following news that the Federal Reserve officials feel it “might soon be time” to end its bond-buying program that has been in place in one form or another since late 2008 to keep interest rates low and encourage economic growth.

Stocks edged higher Tuesday after four days of declines. Bond yields, which had been rising sharply for the last several days, pulled back, bringing relief to investors worried about higher interest rates.

Stocks dropped for the fourth straight day Monday. Investors had little data to digest Monday, so the focus for many remained the ongoing climb in bond yields. The quick rise in bond yields has worried some investors because it leads to higher interest rates on many kinds of loans, including home mortgages and corporate loans.

Stocks fell Friday, closing out what was the worst week of the year for the Dow. The market was dragged lower by a weak performance from retailers and companies sensitive to higher interest rates. Homebuilders and banking stocks were among the best performers.

Warnings of slower sales drove stocks lower Thursday. Before the start of trading, Wal-Mart cut its estimates for annual revenue and profit, warning that cautious shoppers are spending less. The news followed a disappointing revenue forecast from Cisco Systems late Wednesday.

The stock market’s early summer rally has fizzled out after a strong July, and August is shaping up to be a lackluster month as many traders and investors take their summer breaks. The major indexes have drifted lower in the past week after climbing to all-time highs at the start of the month.

August is shaping up to be a lackluster month for the stock market as major indexes fail to add significantly to the gains they made in July. A sharp rise in Treasury yields also rippled through the stock market on Tuesday.

Corporate deal stories and technology stocks were bright spots on Wall Street Monday.
Still, those gains weren’t enough to push the broad-market index up for the day.

Stocks slid Friday on quiet trading, ending down for the week. Investors couldn’t pinpoint a specific reason for Friday’s decline, but said the entire week — one when the Dow and S&P 500 rose on only one day — has been weighed down by uninspired earnings reports.

Surging mining stocks and other commodities ended the slump on Wall Street Thursday. With little other news to drive trading, the stock market had meandered lower this week.

Weak earnings reports on Wednesday drove stocks lower. Banks had some of the biggest losses following news that the government filed lawsuits accusing Bank of America of misleading investors.

Stocks slid Tuesday. Most companies have reported better results during the second-quarter earnings season, but sales have slowed. A growing list of companies, including eBay and Marriott, has told analysts to lower their expectations for the coming quarters. The overall picture has left investors with little reason to cheer.

There was little in the way of news Monday to shake the market out of a summertime stupor, other than a report from the Institute for Supply Management that the U.S. service sector expanded in July, helped by a rise in new orders.

On Friday, indexes dropped in early trading after the U.S. added fewer jobs than forecast in July, curbing optimism that the economy is poised to pick up strength in the second half of the year. The market gradually recovered throughout the day and major indexes ended slightly higher.

The Standard & Poor’s 500, the Dow Jones industrial average and the Russell 2000 index set all-time highs. The S&P broke through 1,700 points for the first time. The Nasdaq hit its highest level since September 2000. The gains were driven by a steady flow of encouraging, if incremental, reports on the global economy.

On Wednesday, the Fed reaffirmed its commitment to support the economy in a statement released after the end of a two-day meeting. The central bank dropped hints that it might need to maintain its stimulus, and slightly downgraded its assessment of U.S. economic growth from “moderate” to “modest.” That initially gave stocks a boost, pushing the S&P 500 within two points of breaching the 1,700 level for the first time in afternoon trading. But the rally faded in the final hour, leaving the S&P flat at the end of the day.

U.S. stocks wandered between the tiniest of gains and losses before closing mixed Tuesday. Traders were indecisive as companies reported disparate earnings news, and many were disinclined to make any big moves before getting direction from the Federal Reserve, which is scheduled to release an updated policy statement Wednesday.

Stocks edged lower Monday as investors waited for a series of major economic reports due out this week. A string of big-name merger deals wasn’t enough to push indexes higher. On Wednesday the government will report its first estimate of U.S. economic growth for the second quarter, and on Friday it will publish its monthly jobs survey.

Stocks eked out tiny gains Friday. The stock market slumped in early trading, climbed steadily the rest of the day, then ended little changed. Volume was thin as traders prepared for a deluge of potentially market-moving events next week.

Earnings reports from materials companies helped stocks post a slight gain Thursday. Nearly halfway through the second-quarter earnings season, the overall trend looks good, but not great, said Tyler Vernon, chief investment officer of Biltmore Capital in Princeton, NJ. “There have been some big disappointments, like Caterpillar yesterday, but we’re seeing better and better numbers coming out.”

A grim earnings report from Caterpillar tugs stocks mostly lower Wednesday. Slight losses spread across a wide variety of companies, with nine of 10 industry groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index ending lower.

The stock market ended mixed Tuesday after uneven earnings news. Better earnings from big banks, health insurers and other companies have helped drive the stock market higher this month. On Tuesday, however, the encouraging and the discouraging seemed evenly matched.

Stocks edged higher Monday after the price of gold broke above the $1,300 mark for the first time in a month, giving mining stocks a lift. However, poor second-quarter results from a handful of large U.S. companies weighed on stocks. McDonald’s fell after it reported lower global sales and warned of a tough year ahead. Media company Gannett dropped after its revenues fell short of financial analysts’ expectations.

Microsoft led a slump in tech stocks Friday, falling the most in more than four years after the company wrote off nearly $1 billion on its new tablet computer and reported declining revenue for its Windows operating system. Google dropped after its revenue fell below analysts’ forecasts, partly because the Internet search leader’s ad prices took an unexpected turn lower.

Corporate earnings gains drove stocks higher Thursday and were aided by a drop in claims for unemployment benefits that signaled a healthier economy and encouraged investors to buy stocks.

Stocks edged up Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered reassures on the Fed’s stimulus program. The concern has been that “the Fed was going to dial the [stimulus] down to zero regardless how the economy was doing,” said Phil Orlando, chief market strategist at Federated Investors. “I don’t think that’s the case at all…the Fed is going to evaluate the economic landscape,” before it cuts its stimulus.

Stocks declined Tuesday following a series of sub-par earnings reports. “The expectations out there for earnings overall, they’re pretty modest,” said Scott Wren, senior equity strategist at Wells Fargo. “Earnings season is not going to be what drives the market from here.”

Stocks moved higher Monday, extending a hot start to the month of July. Stocks rose to record levels last week after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank would not ease its stimulus before the economy was ready. The central banker’s comments also stemmed a rise in Treasury yields.