Roundup: U.S. stocks end narrowly mixed amid upbeat data

U.S. stocks closed fractionally mixed after wavering in a tight range Wednesday, as Wall Street digested an array of generally positive data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 1.20 points, or 0.01 percent, to 17,813.39. The S&P 500 edged down 0.27 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,088.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 13.33 points, or 0.26 percent, to 5,116.14.

U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in October increased 6.9 billion U.S. dollars, or 3.0 percent, to 239.0 billion dollars, well above market consensus, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday. This increase followed a 0.8-percent decrease in September.

In a separate report, the department said U.S. personal income in October increased 68.1 billion dollars, or 0.4 percent, which is on par with market estimates. Personal consumption expenditures increased 15.2 billion dollars, or 0.1 percent, in October.

"As far as Q4 GDP goes, consumption is more important than orders. The 0.1-percent rise, nominal and real, is likely to keep GDP estimates close to 2 percent. Of course, in today's lower-expectations world, that's enough to justify a rate hike as long as next Friday's employment report is not a disaster," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial.

U.S. sales of new single-family houses in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 495,000, according to the Commerce Department Wednesday. This is 10.7 percent above the revised September rate of 447,000 and is 4.9 percent above the October 2014 estimate of 472,000.

Meanwhile, in the week ending Nov. 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits decreased 12,000 from the previous week's revised level to 260,000, below market expectations of 270,000, reported the U.S. Labor Department Wednesday.

Overseas, European equities rebounded strongly Wednesday despite rising geopolitical tensions after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane Tuesday, with French benchmark index CAC 40 jumping 1.51 percent.

In Asia, Chinese shares extended gains amid expanding turnover Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.88 percent to close at 3,647.93 points.

U.S. stock markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 4.65 percent to end at 15.19 Wednesday.

In other markets, oil prices steadied Wednesday amid thin trading volume before the Thanksgiving holiday.

The West Texas Intermediate for January delivery moved up 17 cents to settle at 43.04 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery increased 5 cents to close at 46.17 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against other major currencies Wednesday amid solid economic data from the country.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0617 dollars from 1.0650 dollars in the previous session, while the U.S. dollar bought 122.72 Japanese yen, higher than 122.46 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell Wednesday as the stronger-than-expected U.S. data add pressure to the precious metal.

The most active gold contract for December delivery decreased 3.8 dollars, or 0.35 percent, to settle at 1,070.00 dollars per ounce. Endit