By Anora Mahmudova, Carla Mozee and Victor Reklaitis,
MarketWatch
Gap rallies on sales reports; Zynga falls after results
Gap rallies on sales reports; Zynga falls after results
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Wall Street opened higher Friday, as
investors welcomed a report that Russia is looking to dial down its
conflict with Ukraine, while brushing off news of U.S. air strikes
in Iraq.
The main benchmarks were set to record modest weekly losses,
building on sharp declines the week before.
The S&P 500 (SPX) opened 3 points, or 0.2%, higher at
1,912.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 20.87
points, or 0.1%, to 16,391.32. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) began
the session with a gain of 2 points, or 0.1%, at 4,337.64.
Follow MarketWatch's live blog of today's stock-market
action.
Headlines from Russia and the Middle East dominated news. Stock
futures fell in early premarket trade but the flight to safe-haven
assets receded after Russian news agency RIA said Russia is seeking
to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine. On Thursday, Russian
President Vladimir Putin had hit back with sanctions against
nations that placed restrictions on his country.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military has struck ISIL artillery that had
been used against Kurdish forces defending Erbil, the Pentagon said
Friday.
"With limited coverage of Ukraine from news outlets now focusing
on the Middle East, traders are forced to jump at each headline,"
said Jim Vogel, executive vice president at FTN Financial Capital
Markets, in a note.
Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global
Capital, said traders may have overreacted initially to the Iraq
airstrike news, with the action exacerbated by light summertime
trading. He noted the S&P 500 stayed above 1,900 on Thursday,
and it's managed to hold around the lower end of its trading range
for the week.
"There is an appetite for stocks around this level," Cardillo
told MarketWatch.
In the Middle East, Israel said Hamas had violated a 72-hour
cease-fire and ordered the military to resume fire in the Gaza
Strip.
Individuals stock moves
On the data front, a report on U.S. labor productivity in the
second quarter showed a 2.5% rise, beating the 1.7% gain expected
by economists polled by MarketWatch. A fresh reading on wholesale
inventories is on deck for 10 a.m. Eastern Time, but that's not a
top-level economic report.
Among individual stocks, Gap (GPS) climbed 4% after the apparel
retailer's same-store sales increased 2% in July, beating analysts'
expectations.
Zynga shares (ZNGA) fell 8.9% after the online social-gaming
company late Thursday said its second-quarter loss widened to $62.5
million, or 7 cents a share. (Read more about notable stock moves
here:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/zynga-plummets-tesla-falls-short-of-record-2014-08-07.)
In other markets, oil (CLU4) futures rose, and gold futures
(GCZ4) pulled back. European stocks remained lower but were off the
worst levels of the session.
Investors had sought safety in the Japanese yen (USDJPY), and
that push higher for the currency led to a 3% dive in Japanese
stocks.
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