By Victor Reklaitis and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch Sharing
the spotlight: ECB, energy and retail
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. stock market finished with
small losses Thursday, having faded after jumping to intraday
records in the early afternoon.
The market showed typical caution ahead of Friday's monthly jobs
report, according to Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at
Rockwell Global Capital.
"It's not really falling out of bed," Cardillo told MarketWatch.
"Investors are bracing themselves for tomorrow's employment data,"
he said.
The S&P 500 and Dow industrials climbed to intraday records
after a Bloomberg report raised fresh hopes about European Central
Bank stimulus plans, but those gains didn't stick as the closely
watched employment report loomed.
The S&P 500 (SPX) closed down 2.41 points, or 0.1%, to
2,071.92, after briefly rising to an intraday record above 2,077.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell by 12.52 points, or
0.1%, to 17,900.10. The blue-chip index had leaped an intraday
record just below 17,938 in the early afternoon.
Meanwhile, he Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) lost 5.04 points, or 0.1%,
to close at 4,769.44.
Thursday's choppy action came after both the S&P 500 and the
Dow bagged record closes on Wednesday.
All eyes on the ECB, jobs data: 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
The Bloomberg report, which cited unnamed central bankers,
apparently did a better job of fulfilling those expectations, as it
said the central bank expects to consider a proposal for
broad-based asset purchases in January. 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, weekly jobless claims fell to 297,000,
basically in line with forecasts for 298,000. This employment
figure comes ahead of Friday's monthly jobs report, a big event
that may have given some investors a reason to play it safe
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, losing 0.8% as oil prices (CLF5) once again
dropped.
Sears Holding Corp. (SHLD) shares closed down 4.4% after the
ailing retailer reported a wider third-quarter net loss on lower
revenue. Barnes & Noble Inc.(BKS) also fell after its quarterly
release, losing 5.4%, while Kroger Co. (KR) gained 3.6%.(Read more
in MarketWatch's Movers & Shakers column
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sears-barnes-noble-dollar-general-earnings-in-focus-2014-12-04.)
In currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against a basket
of major rivals (DXY) while gold for February delivery(GCG5), the
most active contract, settled lower.
Chinese stocks see best day in two years: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.
In other markets. European stocks finished sharply lower, but
Asian stocks rallied on the heels of U.S. gains on Wednesday.
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