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1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end mixed amid mixed data

Xinhua, September 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks pared early gains to end mixed Thursday, as investors tried to digest a batch of mixed economic reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23.38 points, or 0.14 percent, to 16,374.76. The S&P 500 inched up 2.27 points, or 0.12 percent, to 1,951.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 16.48 points, or 0.35 percent, to 4,733.50.

The U.S. international trade deficit in goods and services decreased from 45.2 billion U.S. dollars in June to 41.9 billion dollars in July, largely in line with market consensus, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

In the week ending Aug. 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims increased 12,000 from the previous week's revised level to 282,000, exceeding market estimates of 273,000, said the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 275,500, an increase of 3,250 from the previous week's revised average.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Non-Manufacturing Index registered 59 percent in August, 1.3 percentage points lower than the July reading of 60.3 percent but above market expectations of 58.5 percent, said the Institute Supply Management (ISM) in its monthly survey.

"The drop to 59.0 was smaller than expected. The domestic economy is holding strong in the face of a stronger dollar, lower oil prices, and weakening global demand, especially in the services sector," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

"The Fed must weigh the strength of the domestic economy against the prospects of a weakening global economy as they decide whether to raise interest rates in two weeks," he added.

Overseas, the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday decided to leave key interest rates unchanged and increase the issue share limit.

The ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations, on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility would remain unchanged at 0.05 percent, 0.3 percent and -0.2 percent respectively.

ECB President Mario Draghi announced the issue share limit would be raised from the initial limit of 25 percent to 33 percent. This would allow the central bank to purchase more single issue bonds.

European shares surged on the decision Thursday, with French benchmark index CAC 40 jumping 2.17 percent. Endit