CVX Chevron Corporation

By Ellie Ismailidou and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

Jobless claims miss expectations; Alibaba climbs on strong earnings; Tesla, L Brands fall

U.S. stocks were moving higher Thursday, on track to snap a two-session decline, as the energy sector got a boost from surging oil prices on worries that wildfires raging in Alberta could hamstring crude output.

The S&P 500 index rose 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2,055, led by strong gains in the energy sector, up 1.4%.

The Dow industrials rose 50 points, or 0.3%, to 17,700, boosted by a 2% rise in International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and a 1.2% rise in Chevron Corp., (CVX).

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 11 points, or 0.2%, to 4,736.

Stocks seemed to resume on Thursday their recent strong correlation with oil prices, with the main benchmarks following a surge in WTI crude as wildfires disrupted output from Canada's oil sands industry (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-rise-as-canadian-wildfire-threatens-output-2016-05-05). The fire, in Alberta, Canada, has forced the evacuation of 88,000, according to report from Reuters.

See also: How a raging inferno in Alberta is hobbling oil production (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-a-raging-inferno-in-alberta-is-hobbling-oil-production-2016-05-05)

Strong earnings from companies like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) also helped boost the broader market.

But the main benchmarks were weighed by weak data on the U.S. labor market, where the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-jobless-claims-climb-17000-to-274000-2016-05-05) at the end of April rose to a five-week high, missing economists' expectations.

The jobless-claims data came one day after a weaker-than-expected report on private-sector payrolls and a fall in worker productivity, which pushed stocks to finish lower on Wednesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-mired-in-red-with-private--payrolls-data-on-tap-2016-05-04).

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-mired-in-red-with-private--payrolls-data-on-tap-2016-05-04)Apart from the oil boost, another reason why the market "took the weak labor data in a stride" is that evidence of weakness in the labor market is viewed as justification for the Federal Reserve to delay further interest-rate hikes this year, particularly since inflation remains subdued (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-inflation-might-be-this-markets-bogeyman-2016-05-05), said Jeff Carbone, managing director at wealth manager Cornerstone Financial Partners.

But despite Thursday's modest uptrend, technical analysts were watching key technical indicators that were flashing warning signals, most notably that the S&P is now noticeably below its 20-day moving average and that, on Wednesday, the index fell more than 3% below its recent highs, a drop that last occurred in November.

The slow, yet consistent selloff over the past two weeks has kept the S&P confined to a "clear downward sloping channel," said Frank Cappelleri, technical analyst at Instinet, in emailed comments.

"While not a crash by any means, the recent action has altered the market's complexion," Cappelleri said. "This was inevitable, of course. Now the market must prove it can take a punch, which could prove challenging."

Also adding to stocks' momentum was the dollar's (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-set-to-gain-against-euro-yen-for-a-3rd-day-2016-05-05) continuing march higher against the yen, analysts said.

"Strong dollar, yen strength and lower oil pushed equities lower. Now, equities are backed by weaker yen, higher oil in addition to a weaker euro," said Nour Al Hammoury, chief market strategist at ADS Securities, in emailed comments.

Data and Fed speakers: San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams will be interviewed on CNBC Thursday at 1:40 p.m. Eastern, while St. Louis Fed President James Bullard will speak on the economy and Fed policy at the University of California Santa Barbara at 11:50 a.m. Eastern.

Williams and Bullard will also appear on a panel on "international monetary policy and reform in practice" at the Hoover Institute conference in Stanford University at 7:15 p.m. Eastern. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan will be on the same panel.

Stocks to watch:Tesla (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2016/05/04/tesla-results-to-include-model-x-sales-model-3-prep-live-blog/)(TSLA) fell 4.3% despite the fact that the electric-car maker posted a narrower-than-expected first-quarter adjusted loss and sales that were in line with Wall Street's forecasts late Wednesday.

Read:Elon Musk promises Tesla will do the improbable (or even impossible) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-promises-tesla-will-do-the-improbable-or-even-impossible-2016-05-04)

Alibaba (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alibabas-stock-surges-as-sales-beat-offsets-profit-miss-2016-05-05)(BABA) gained 4.1% after strong results, while Merck (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/merck-beats-profit-expectations-bumps-up-full-year-guidance-range-2016-05-05)(MRK) fell 1.7% after its results.

L Brands Inc. (LB) tumbled 10% after the retailer reported fiscal first-quarter sales that missed expectations.

Avon Products Inc.(AVP) gained 3.6% despite reporting that its loss worsened in the most recent quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/avon-loss-widens-on-dollar-and-restructuring-costs-2016-05-05).

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc.(SEAS) plunged nearly 8% after the company, which recently said it would abandon breeding its signature killer whales, announced Thursday that a measure of profit for the year would land below analysts' expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/seaworld-shares-drop-on-soft-outlook-2016-05-05).

Kellogg Co. (K) fell 2% after the food company said sales fell short of estimates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kellogg-reports-quarterly-sales-decline-largely-due-to-venezuela-business-2016-05-05).

Also reporting late Wednesday, Fitbit Inc (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fitbit-shares-plunge-on-weak-quarterly-outlook-2016-05-04).(FIT) was down 15.4% on a weak quarterly outlook. Whole Foods Market Inc (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whole-foods-market-cuts-annual-guidance-2016-05-04-17485469).(WFM) gained 4.4% after the company cut its annual guidance, though profit slight beat Wall Street forecasts. Kraft Heinz Co (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kraft-heinz-rallies-as-first-quarter-earnings-beat-expectations-2016-05-04).(KHC) rose 3.9% after better-than-expected earnings.

After the close, Square Inc.(SQ), GoPro Inc.(GPRO), FireEye Inc.(FEYE), News Corp(NWS.AU), which owns MarketWatch, the publisher of this report, Yelp Inc.(YELP), DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.(DWA) and Herbalife Ltd.(HLF) will report.

AT&T Inc.(T) unwound a 15-year partnership with Yahoo Inc.(YHOO) and awarded the contract to Web and mobile portals to Synacor Inc.(SYNC).

Alphabet Inc.'s(GOOGL) YouTube will be offering a paid subscription bundle of streaming TV channels as soon as next year, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/youtube-reportedly-planning-streaming-tv-service-2016-05-04).

Other markets:Asian markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-stocks-stymied-by-weak-china-services-data-2016-05-05) had a mostly lackluster session, with appetite for equities dampened by news that China's service activity grew at a slower pace in April. Fears over slowing economic growth world-wide has been a factor in driving down global equity prices this week.

European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-break-four-day-losing-run-as-oil-prices-rally-2016-05-05) rose 0.7%, led by gains for major oil producers.

Gold prices rose $5.10, or 0.4%, to $1,278.80 an ounce.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 05, 2016 11:30 ET (15:30 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.