By
Mark McSherry
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose for the fourth straight day
on Thursday as oil prices hovered near a three-month low and economic
data painted a mixed picture, with some improvement in the U.S.
labor market last week.
Exxon Mobil Corp. was the biggest lift to the blue-chip Dow and
the broad S&P 500, up 2.2 percent at $54.83.
The Nasdaq was helped by Petsmart Inc., which jumped 10.4 percent
to $32.96 after the top U.S. pet supply chain reported quarterly
earnings that beat Wall Street analysts' estimates.
Motorola Inc. climbed 2.4 percent to $17.31. The world's second-biggest
mobile phone maker said its board had authorized its first-ever
stock buyback program, allowing it to repurchase up to $4 billion
worth of its shares in the next three years.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 28.74 points, or 0.27
percent, at 10,493.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index finished
up 5.52 points, or 0.47 percent, at 1,191.08. The technology-heavy
Nasdaq Composite Index ended the day up 11.93 points, or 0.59 percent,
at 2,042.58.
"We've had a great week," said Todd Leone, head of listed
trading at S.G. Cowen. "They can't keep it down. I thought
we might rest a little today -- but money is flowing back into the
market."
The Dow and the S&P 500 ended at their highest levels in more
than a month, and the Nasdaq finished at its highest in two months.
Netflix Inc. shares rose 4 percent, or 63 cents, to end at $16.13.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it was closing its online DVD rental business
and would direct its customers to Netflix Inc., offering the struggling
company a lifeline. During trading before Thursday's opening bell
on the Inet electronic brokerage network, Netflix shares jumped
almost 31 percent to $20.30 from their Wednesday close at $15.50
on Nasdaq.
Among decliners, Kerr-McGee Corp. slid 5.6 percent, or $4.19, to
$70.25 after the oil and gas producer said it would buy back 29
percent of its outstanding common stock in a bid to stave off a
takeover attempt by corporate raider Carl Icahn.
DuPont Co. fell almost 1 percent, or 43 cents, to $47.61, dragging
on the Dow, after it said a federal grand jury is seeking documents
on a chemical used in manufacturing Teflon nonstick coatings that
has been the subject of safety questions.
WEAK PHILLY FED DATA, FEWER JOBLESS CLAIMS
In economic news, U.S. Mid-Atlantic factory activity fell in May
to the lowest in nearly two years, according to the Federal Reserve
Bank of Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Fed said its business activity index skidded to
7.3 in May from 25.3 in April, the largest one-month drop since
January 2001. The May reading was sharply below a Wall Street forecast
for a drop to 19.0, according to economists polled by Reuters. A
measure above zero denotes growth in the sector.
However, other data on Thursday showed an improved U.S. labor market
last week. The government said the number of Americans filing new
claims for unemployment benefits fell by 20,000 last week.
First-time claims for state jobless aid fell to 321,000 in the week
ended May 14 from an upwardly revised 341,000 the previous week,
the Labor Department said. Analysts on average had been looking
for jobless claims of 330,000.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 4/32 at 100-3/32,
while its yield was at 4.113 percent.
U.S. crude oil futures ended lower for a second day in a row as
traders concentrated on U.S. government data showing an unexpectedly
large build in domestic commercial crude stockpiles.
Crude for June delivery , which expires on Friday, settled at $46.92
a barrel, down 33 cents, or 0.7 percent, on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
Trading was moderate, with 1.38 billion shares changing hands on
the New York Stock Exchange, below the 1.46 billion daily average
for last year. About 1.74 billion shares were traded on Nasdaq,
just below the 1.81 billion daily average last year.
Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by almost 7 to
4 and on Nasdaq by roughly 17 to 14.
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