Stocks Finish Mixed in Reaction to Sear/Amazon Deal

U.S. stock index futures finished mixed on Thursday with the Dow and the S&P 500 closing lower, and the NASDAQ posting another gain. A deal between Sears and Amazon hurt the home improvement sector, dragging the blue chip and benchmark indexes lower while the technology-based index was supported by a rise in Microsoft.

In the cash market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average settled at 21611.78, down 28.97 or -0.13%. The S&P 500 Index closed at 2473.45, down 0.38 or -0.002 and the NASDAQ finished the session at 6388.88, up 3.84 or +0.06%.

The economy and the Fed took a backseat today with investors basically focusing on the Sears/Amazon transaction most of the session. Sear stock rallied 10.6 percent after Amazon agreed to sell its Kenmore home appliances on the internet-retailer giant’s website.

The news sent other appliance retailers like Home Depot, Lowes and Best Buy lower, as well as appliance maker Whirlpool. This put a drag on the broad-based S&P 500 Index and the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Earnings expectations continue to remain strong, but haven’t been setting the world on fire. Analysts are estimating an 8.6 percent rise in second-quarter earnings and a 4.6 percent increase in revenue for the S&P 500 companies from a year earlier, according to Thompson Reuters.

Microsoft shares were up 0.9 percent in after-hours trading after it reported a quarterly profit that more than doubled.

Volume continued to remain relatively soft. On Thursday, about 5.92 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 6.35 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

Crude Oil

Crude oil prices retreated on Thursday after attempting to break out to the upside early in the session. The catalysts for the early strength were the greater-than-expected drawdowns in crude oil, gasoline and distillates reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.

Early gains disappeared on profit-taking and position-squaring ahead of Monday’s meeting between key OPEC and non-OPEC producers in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Gold

Gold prices weakened early Thursday before rebounding late in the session to finish higher. The precious metal was pressured by a firmer dollar early in the session after the European Central Bank reaffirmed its ultra-easy policy stance, sending the U.S. Dollar higher against the Euro.

Prices began to rise after the ECB said it would start taking about tapering its stimulus at its September meeting. This news sent the U.S. Dollar sharply lower.

The mixed performance in the stock also helped underpin gold prices because this signaled a drop in demand for higher-risk assets.