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Roundup: U.S. stocks end mixed on mixed data

Xinhua, August 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks shaved part of early gains to close mixed Wednesday, as Wall Street was pondering over a string of mixed economic reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 10.22 points, or 0. 06 percent, to 17,540.47. The S&P 500 added 6.52 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,099.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 34.40 points, or 0.67 percent, to 5,139.94.

The employment of the U.S. private sector increased by 185,000 jobs in July in comparison with June, well below market consensus of 210,000, according to the ADP National Employment Report released Wednesday.

The ADP figure is watched closely as a pre-indicator for the nonfarm payrolls data due Friday. Some analysts thought that a soft ADP report could give the Federal Reserve an excuse to postpone rate hikes.

Meanwhile, the Non-Manufacturing Index registered 60.3 percent in July, 4.3 percentage points higher than the June reading of 56 percent and well above market expectations of 56.2, reported the Institute Supply Management (ISM) Wednesday.

"The ISM non-manufacturing index is at the highest (level) since August 2005. The index measures services and construction. When it is this strong, it suggests both are growing rapidly," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

U.S. trade deficit in June came out largely on par with market estimates. The country's international trade deficit in goods and services increased to 43.8 billion U.S. dollars in June from a revised level of 40.9 billion dollars in May, said the U.S. Commerce Department Wednesday.

In corporate news, the Walt Disney Company plunged 9.17 percent to 110.53 dollars a share Wednesday following the release of its weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue.

The entertainment giant reported quarterly earnings of 2.5 billion dollars on revenue of 13.1 billion dollars for its third fiscal quarter ending June 27, compared to 2.2 billion dollars on revenue of 12.5 billion dollars for the prior-year quarter.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 3.77 percent to end at 12.51 Wednesday.

In other markets, oil prices dropped Wednesday though U.S. crude stockpiles fell last week.

The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery moved down 59 cents to settle at 45.15 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery decreased 40 cents to close at 49.59 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Future Exchange.

The U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies Wednesday as investors were assessing a batch of mixed economic data.

In late New York trading, the euro moved up to 1.0898 dollars from 1.0891 dollars in the previous session. The dollar bought 124. 88 Japanese yen, higher than 124.33 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Wednesday, with the most active gold contract for December delivery down 5.1 dollars, or 0.47 percent, to settle at 1,085.60 dollars per ounce. Endite