Stocks Edge Higher; ConocoPhillips Announces $15 Billion Share Buyback

The major indices edged higher in a volatile session. Investors
were cautious ahead of Alcoa’s after market earnings release.
ConocoPhillips and Johnson & Johnson announced multibillion dollar
share buybacks.

Crude oil futures for August delivery fell
about 1%
to $72.19 per barrel.  Gold
futures for August delivery also added 1% to $662.50 an ounce.


Around Europe, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.4% to 8,077.39, France’s
CAC 40 rose fractionally to 6,104.66, and Britain’s FTSE 100 index
rose 0.3% to 6,712.70.

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Stocks in
Motion

ConocoPhillips
(
COP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Plans $15 Bln Share Buyback (full
story
). COP shares rose by 3.7%.

Johnson & Johnson
(
JNJ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

Reveals $10 Bln Share Buyback Program (full
story
). JNJ shares rose 1%.

Limited Brands
(
LTD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Sells 75% Stake In Express Brand; Agrees To
Transfer 75% Interest In Limited Stores (full
story
). LTD shares fell 2.6%.

Schnitzer Steel
(
SCHN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Q3 Profit Surges On Higher Revenues;
Guides Q4 (full
story
). SCHN shares jumped 17.5%.

Sony
(
SNE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
To Introduce New 80GB PS3 In August; Slashes Price Of
60GB PS3 By $100 (full
story
). SNE shares slipped by 0.2%.

For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking News section.


Market Snapshot

Dow

+38.29 13,649.97

NASDAQ

+3.51 2,670.02

S&P 500

+1.41 1,531.85

 

NYSE NASDAQ

Volume

2,626,826,000 1,811,145,000

Advances

1717 1471

Declines

1515 1577

Up Volume

1225 906

Down Volume

1197 801

New Highs

317 246

New Lows

46 62


Strongest/Weakest Sectors

Strongest Sectors

Weakest Sectors

Gold Bugs Index (HUI) Computer Hardware
Index (HWI)

S&P Retail Index (RLX)
PHLX Bank
Sector Index (BKX)
Dow Jones Internet Commerce Index (ECM) Dow Jones Equity REIT

Index (DJR)


 


Economic
News

Consumer Credit $12.9 bln vs $6.5
bln consensus

Darren Wong

Associate Editor

darrenw@tradingmarkets.com