XOM Exxon Mobil Corp

By Anora Mahmudova and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

CSX shares on track for best daily rise in 36 years

U.S. stocks were switching between small gains and losses Thursday amid dovish comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, solid economic data and mixed earnings.

Draghi said there was "no convincing upward trend in underlying inflation" adding the central bank was ready to expand its quantitative-easing program if needed. His comments pushed the euro and the yen lower against the dollar, while European equity markets rebounded. Earlier, The European Central Bank, as expected, left interest rates unchanged Thursday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ecb-leaves-rates-unchanged-draghi-up-next-2017-01-19).

ECB news conference recap: Mario Draghi maintains dovish course (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2017/01/19/ecb-live-blog-mario-draghi-expected-to-maintain-dovish-course/)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 19,800, and bouncing around as blue chips attempted to halt four straight days of declines. The equity gauge was being limited by a 1.4% decline in the Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), while Boeing Co. (BA) was rising 0.9%.

The S&P 500 index was at break-even levels points at 2,271, but not far from its all-time high set two weeks ago. Industrials were leading the gains, while utilities and real estate were down the most. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index added 8 points, or 0.2%, to 5,563, and was only 10 points shy of its record close.

In economic news, weekly jobless claim fell by more than expected, signaling continued strength in the labor market. Weekly jobless claims dropped by 15,000 to 234,000, highlighting the continued low levels of layoffs. Separately, housing starts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/housing-starts-surge-in-december-to-second-highest-pace-of-recovery-2017-01-19) ran at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.23 million in December, 11.3% higher than in November but about flat compared with the year-ago rate.

Meanwhile, The Philly manufacturing index unexpectedly rose in January.

"The postelection enthusiasm continues in the sentiment figures. All we need now is to see to what extent of increased business activity this translates into," wrote Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group LLC.

Read: How the Trump rally stacks up to other postelection jumps (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-trump-rally-stacks-up-to-other-postelection-stock-market-gains-2017-01-18)

And see:Here's how stocks perform in a new president's first 100 days (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-stocks-perform-in-a-new-presidents-first-100-days-in-one-chart-2017-01-19)

Individual movers: Shares in Netflix Inc.(NFLX) rallied 6% after the streaming video giant posted better-than-expected quarterly results (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/netflix-shares-pop-after-reporting-improved-earnings-subscriber-growth-2017-01-18) late Wednesday. Netflix added 7.05 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, roughly double the 3.57 million it gained in the third quarter.

"Despite significant increases in competition, we believe the company's advantages are growing," said Pacific Crest analysts in an "Earnings Recap" note. They raised their price target for Netflix's stock to $170 from $135 and backed their rating of overweight, or buy. The stock was on track to open around $144 on Thursday, setting it up for a record close.

See: Netflix is about to be bigger overseas than it is in the U.S (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/netflix-is-about-to-be-bigger-overseas-than-it-is-in-the-us-2017-01-18).

And read:My dad talked me out of buying Netflix, but he wasn't wrong (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/my-dad-talked-me-out-of-the-decades-best-investment-but-he-wasnt-wrong-2017-01-18)

CSX Corp.(CSX) soared 16%, and was on track for its best daily rise in 36 years, following news that railroad-industry veteran Hunter Harrison is teaming with an activist investor (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/canadian-pacific-ceo-hunter-harrison-steps-down-early-to-pursue-csx-2017-01-18) in a bid to shake up CSX's management.

Another railroad operator, Union Pacific Corp.(UNP) shares surged 5% after earnings. American Express Co.(AXP) and IBM(IBM) are due to report after the close.

Shares of Navient Crop(NAVI) slumped 2.8% after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit against the nation's largest student loan servicer, accusing the company of mistreating borrowers.

Economic news: Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen is due to give a speech at 8 p.m. Eastern at Stanford University, covering the economic outlook and monetary policy. On Wednesday, she said she expects rates to rise a few times a year (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-yellen-says-she-expects-rates-to-rise-a-few-times-a-year-until-end-of-2019-2017-01-18) until the end of 2019.

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Other markets: Crude-oil futures traded higher, as the International Energy Agency warned OPEC's cuts could backfire (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/opec-faces-headwinds-from-rivals-as-prices-rise-after-output-cut-iea-warns-2017-01-19) as rivals step into the gap. European stocks rebounded, while Asian markets closed mixed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-hold-steady-nikkei-rises-despite-toshibas-dive-2017-01-18). Gold futures traded lower, and a key dollar index rose.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 19, 2017 10:01 ET (15:01 GMT)

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