Major Averages Close Higher
Stocks closed
fractionally higher in light trading ahead of the holiday weekend.
With the markets closed tomorrow for the Easter holiday, Thursday saw the
release of a slew of economic data. The Labor Department reported Import Prices
fell in March, with the number surprising economists
(report)
and that Initial Jobless Claims rose last week, the rise was not expected by
economists
(report).
The Commerce Department reported Retail Sales rose in March, with the rise being
more than economists had expected
(report).
Proving economics is not called the dismal science for nothing.
In a holiday shortened session, Treasury prices
closed lower after today’s data, pushing the yield on the 10yr T-note
comfortably above 5% for the first time since June 2002.
The US Dollar Index closed slightly higher, boosted by the Dollar’s gains
against the Australian and Canadian Dollar. For more on the Australian Dollar
read
Dave Floyd’s article from earlier today.
June Crude Oil futures reversed early losses to close higher. June Crude Oil
ended the week at $70.82, a new contract high.
Stocks In The News
Bayer
(
BAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
PowerRating
Launches Official Bid Worth EUR 16.5 Billion For Schering AG
(
SHR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Tribune
(
TRB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
PowerRating
Q1 Profit Drops Hurt By Weak Ad Revenues (full
story).
GE’s
(
GE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
PowerRating
Q1 Results Meet Expectations (full
story).
McDonald’s
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
PowerRating
March Comp. Sales Up 5.3%; Sees Q1 EPS Of $0.49, In Line
With Street Views (full
story).
New York Times
(
NYT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
PowerRating
Q1 Profit Plummets 68% On Charges (full
story).
For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking
News section.
| Dow |
+7.68 | 11,137.65 |
| NASDAQ |
+11.43 | 2326.11 |
| S&P 500 |
+1.00 | 1289.12 |
| NYSE | NASDAQ | |
| Volume |
1,857,222,000 | 1,515,867,000 |
| Advances |
1469 | 1754 |
| Declines |
1766 | 1232 |
| Up Volume |
862 | 1048 |
| Down Volume |
859 | 370 |
| New Hi’s |
67 | 89 |
| New Lo’s |
166 | 43 |
|
|
Weakest Sectors |
| Airline ( XAL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Utility ( UTY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
| Oil Service ( OSX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Insurance ( IUX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
| Biotechnology ( BTK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Health Products ( RXP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Economic
News
Import Prices Down 0.4% For March (report)
Jobless Claims Up 12,000 To 313,000 (report)
Retail Sales Up 0.6% For March; Ex.-Auto Up 0.4% (report)
University Of Michigan Preliminary April Consumer Sentiment Index At 89.2
Business Inventories Unchanged In Feb.
EIA – Natual Gas Inventories Show Increase Of 19 BCF
For more reports and analysis go to our
Economic
News section.
Ashton Dorkins