By Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks dipped but stayed near
record territory Thursday, after giving up early gains that came as
the European Central Bank unveiled a raft of stimulus measures.
The ECB announced a negative rate on reserves that banks park at
the central bank, meeting expectations. But the ECB also revealed
preparations toward the purchase of asset-backed securities and
several other moves aimed at boosting inflation and encouraging
lending in the euro zone.
In U.S. economic news, a report on weekly jobless claims roughly
matched forecasts, and on the corporate front, Sprint Corp. and
T-Mobile US Inc. reportedly have moved closer to merging.
The S&P 500(SPX) dipped 3 points, or less than 0.2%, to
1,925 after earlier touching a fresh intraday record above 1,931.
On Wednesday, the benchmark scored a record close for the 16th time
this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI) was essentially flat,
edging down 3 points, or less than 0.1%, to 16,734. The blue-chip
index also hit an intraday record early Thursday, topping
16,774.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite(RIXF) lost 6 points, or less
than 0.2%, to 4,246, while the small-cap Russell 2000(RUT) dipped 2
points, or less than 0.2%, to 1,129.
The ECB cut its deposit facility to negative 0.10% from 0%, and
it dropped its main lending rate to 0.15% from 0.25%. During a news
conference, ECB President Mario Draghi described the bank's actions
as wide-ranging and "very significant," adding that it is ready to
act further if necessary. Read MarketWatch's blog of the ECB news
conference
In U.S. economic news on Thursday, weekly jobless claims rose to
312,000, essentially in line with expectations of 311,000. On
Friday, investors will get the U.S. government's May jobs report.
Economists are expecting a rise of 210,000 jobs in May, but there
is a little trepidation after private-sector payrolls disappointed
on Wednesday, showing the slowest pace of jobs growth in four
months.
Some strategists remain upbeat as U.S. stocks continue to
climb.
"The uptrend still has the support of positive short-term
momentum, although a pullback still appears likely in the days
ahead," said Katie Stockton, BTIG's chief technical strategist, in
emailed comments early Thursday. "We believe any weakness should be
viewed as an opportunity to accumulate stocks, given widespread
breakouts and healthy global breadth."
Late Wednesday, stock bulls got another boost from S&P
Capital IQ. The research firm's Investment Policy Committee --
which has been upbeat on U.S. stocks -- raised its 12-month target
for the S&P 500 to 2,100, up 9% from its prior target of 1,985.
(Read more: Get your money ready for a big S&P 500 rally
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/06/04/get-your-money-ready-for-a-big-sp-500-rally/?link=instory.)
Among individual stocks, Sprint(S) fell 2.1% after The Wall
Street Journal reported that the wireless carrier is nearing a deal
to buy rival T-Mobile(TMUS) for $40 a share. T-Mobile dropped 3.5%.
(Read more in MarketWatch's Movers & Shakers column
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ciena-corp-jumps-on-earnings-pvh-sinks-2014-06-05.)
European stocks climbed, while the euro fell against the dollar
(EURUSD) and August gold (GCQ4) gained ground. Asian equities
finished largely flat, outside of a 0.8% rise for the Shanghai
Composite .
More must-reads from MarketWatch:
A stock-market prediction that is 'kind of scary'
Get your money ready for a big S&P 500 rally
ECB cuts won't fix economy, but they will anger Germany
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