See-sawing: US stocks finish higher after up-and-down trade

Investors weigh solid earnings reports with mixed data.

NEW YORK:

US stocks finished higher Friday following a choppy day of trade as investors weighed some solid retail earnings reports with mixed economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 44.50 points (0.27 percent) to 16,491.31.

The broad-based Standard & Poor 500 added 7.01 (0.37 percent) at 1,877.86, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 21.30 (0.52 percent) to 4,090.59.

Marblehead Asset Management Director Mace Blicksilver said that better-than-expected earnings from retailers Nordstrom and J.C. Penney boosted sentiment.

Yet Blicksilver noted all three stock indices were in negative territory for much of the day until a rally lifted the market about an hour before closing.

“It’s a very mixed kind of tape,” he said.

Investors bid up J.C. Penney shares by 16.3 percent after the company reported a 6.2 percent gain in same-store sales in the first quarter to May 3, and said gross margins improved.

Retailer Nordstrom powered 14.7 percent higher on earnings of 72 cents per share in its first quarter, exceeding its forecast of 60-70 cents per share. Credit Suisse upgraded the stock.

Bond prices dipped. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.52 percent from 2.50 percent on Thursday, while the 30-year advanced to 3.35 percent. 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2014.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.