By Victor Reklaitis and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch Retail,
energy stocks also in spotlight
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks traded flat on Thursday
afternoon, having erased sizable losses as a report raised fresh
hopes about European Central Bank stimulus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average had been down as much as 98
points earlier in the session, with analysts blaming the slide on
disappointment over the ECB's signals. But then stocks jumped to
intraday records in the early afternoon after a Bloomberg report
said the central bank expects to consider a proposal for
broad-based asset purchases in January.
The S&P 500 (SPX) was essentially unchanged at 2,074 at last
check, after briefly jumping to an intraday record above 2,077.
The Dow industrials (DJI) dipped by a point to 17,911 after
hitting an intraday record just below 17,938. The Nasdaq Composite
(RIXF) was up 4 points, or 0.1%, to 4,779.
Thursday's choppy action comes after both the S&P 500 and
the Dow bagged record closes on Wednesday.
All eyes on the ECB: ECB President Mario Draghi said in a news
conference on Thursday that the central bank is prepared to
implement more easing next year if necessary. U.S. stock futures
dipped into negative territory as he spoke, suggesting he didn't
sound as dovish as some traders expected. Check out our live blog
of the ECB news conference
There had been hopes that Draghi would hint at full-scale
quantitative easing that would come soon. The Bloomberg report,
which cited unnamed central bankers, apparently did a better job of
fulfilling those expectations. While market watchers on Twitter
debated whether the report offered much new information, Mark Dow
of the Behavioral Macro blog summed things up as follows:
(https://twitter:com/mark_dow/status/540566483378528257 .)
In U.S. economic news on Thursday, weekly jobless claims fell to
297,000, basically in line with forecasts for 298,000. This figure
comes ahead of Friday's monthly jobs report, a big event that might
give some investors a reason to sit on the sidelines Thursday. Why
economists say 400,000 jobs could be added
Energy, retail in focus: Energy fared worst among the S&P
500's 10 sectors, as oil prices (CLF5) once again dropped.
Meanwhile, Sears Holding Corp. (SHLD) shares were down after the
ailing retailer reported a wider third-quarter net loss on lower
revenue. Barnes & Noble Inc.(BKS) also fell after its quarterly
release, while Kroger Co. (KR) gained ground.(Read more in
MarketWatch's Movers & Shakers column
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sears-barnes-noble-dollar-general-earnings-in-focus-2014-12-04.)
Chinese stocks see best day in two years: The dollar(EURUSD)
mostly retreated against major rivals, while gold(GCG5) was little
changed.
European stocks finished sharply lower, with stock markets there
closing before the Bloomberg report.
Asian stocks rallied on the heels of U.S. gains on Wednesday.
China's Shanghai Composite soared 4.3%, the biggest rise in two
years, as retail investors piled in and banks upgraded prospects
for China's economy.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires