U.S. Stocks Open Higher
August 22 2019 - 10:11AM
Dow Jones News
By Caitlin Ostroff
U.S. stocks advanced Thursday, with investors monitoring the
Jackson Hole symposium where central bank leaders from across the
globe are meeting to discuss issues facing world economies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 112 points, or 0.4%.
The S&P 500 added 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed
0.2%.
Investors were particularly focused on Federal Reserve Chairman
Jerome Powell's speech scheduled for Friday, where he could offer
clues on central bank policy moving forward.
"It really is all on Powell's shoulders," said Craig Erlam, a
senior market analyst for FX brokerage Oanda.
Minutes released Wednesday from the Fed's latest policy meeting
showed officials saw their move to cut interest rates last month as
a "recalibration," rather than the start of a more aggressive
easing cycle.
Investors were also sorting through a batch of fresh data for
further clues on the health of the economy. Initial U.S. jobless
claims fell by 12,000 to 209,000 in the week ended Aug. 17, keeping
the number of Americans applying for first-time unemployment
benefits at historic lows, the U.S. Department of Labor said. Data
on U.S. preliminary manufacturing figures will be released later
Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Stoxx Europe 600 was flat after minutes from the
European Central Bank showing broad support for prolonged stimulus
measures failed to ease recession concerns.
The minutes came after earlier eurozone data on activity in the
manufacturing and services sectors for Germany and France showed
small rises, beating forecasts.
Although the German economic data were better than expected,
Florian Hense, an economist for Berenberg Bank, said he remained
concerned about a potential recession amid threats to German
exports from the Trump administration's talk of tariffs on European
car manufacturers.
"The numbers today neither discredit that nor really confirm
it," he said. "What it confirms is that the domestic side of the
economy is still holding up pretty well."
Investors continued to parse earnings results in the retail
sector, which have helped eased some of the fears about slowing
economic growth.
In Thursday's action, shares of Dick's Sporting Goods jumped
8.9% after the retailer posted its uptick in first same-store sales
in roughly two years and raised its outlook for the fiscal year.
Nordstrom climbed 7.8% after the department-store operator beat
dialed-down expectations for its second-quarter earnings.
L Brands, however, slid 8.6% after the company's revenue fell in
its latest quarter as sales at its embattled flagship Victoria's
Secret chain dropped further.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 1.608% from 1.577% on
Wednesday, according to Tradeweb.
In commodities, U.S. crude oil gained 1% to $56.22 a barrel.
Gold prices slipped 0.4%.
Elsewhere, Asian stocks were mixed, with the Shanghai Composite
up 0.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 0.8% and Japan's Nikkei 225 up
0.1%.
-- Jessica Menton contributed to this article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 22, 2019 09:56 ET (13:56 GMT)
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