MARKET SNAPSHOT: Stocks Fight To Maintain Record-setting Pace After Jobs-fueled Advance
August 08 2016 - 10:20AM
Dow Jones News
By Ellie Ismailidou and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
Mattress Firm bounces higher on deal news
The S&P 500 struggled to maintain flight on Monday, after
briefly touching an all-time intraday record in early trade,
following jobs data on Friday that helped revive investors'
confidence in the U.S. economy.
A sharp rise in oil prices also boosted energy companies' stocks
and was trying to nudge the broader stock market higher.
The S&P 500 index was trading at the break-even, at 2,181,
as a drop in consumer-staples and health-care stocks outweighed a
sharp rise in energy shares, which benefited from a rally in
crude-oil futures.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded tepidly lower, down 4
points, or less than 0.1%, to 18,536. A 2.2% decline in shares of
Merck & Co.(MRK) dragged the blue-chip gauge down.
The Nasdaq Composite Index also was trading flat at 5,219, after
logging its first closing record in more than a year,
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-set-for-gains-as-traders-brace-for-upbeat-jobs-report-2016-08-05)
on Friday, amid a strong equity rally, which was inspired by the
stellar July jobs. The U.S. economy added 255,000 jobs in July
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-gains-292000-jobs-in-july-2016-08-05).
The reading blasted past analyst expectations and breathed new life
into stocks, even though that number may nudge the Federal Reserve
toward a near-term interest-rate hike.
Among individual stocks, Mattress Firm Holding Corp.(MFRM)
soared over 114% after South African furniture retailer Steinhoff
International Holdings NVsaid it planned to buy the company
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mattress-firm-bought-by-south-africas-steinhoff-for-24-billion-2016-08-07)
for around $2.4 billion in cash. The bid, worth $64 per share in
cash, represents a huge premium over Mattress Firm's Friday closing
price of $29.74.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 08, 2016 10:05 ET (14:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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