Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.45 percent to 14,520.47 while the NASDAQ gained 0.35 percent to 3,256.33. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.41 percent to 1,560.91.
Index Technicals: The S&P looks to find resistance at 1,556.50 with lower support at 1,550, and lower at 1,540.
The Dow seems to find resistance in the 14,475 area with lower intra day support set at the 14,410 area.
The NASDAQ is showing resistance at the 3,253 level, with lower support at 3,223.
Finally, the Russell looks to break out over 943 and stall at 945, with lower support set at 938.
Top Headline Yesterday, Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW ) reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and announced its plans to explore strategic alternatives for its K&G business. Men's Wearhouse posted a quarterly loss of $3.4 million, versus a year-ago loss of $3.8 million. On a per-share basis, the loss came in at $0.07 per share. Its revenue gained 8.2% to $608.4 million. Equities Trading UP Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW ) shot up 20.95 percent to $35.16 after company announced its plans to explore strategic alternatives for its K&G business. Shares of Ebix (NASDAQ: EBIX ) got a boost, shooting up 9.65 percent to $17.04 after the company reported a 9% rise in its Q4 diluted earnings per share. Dynegy (NYSE: DYN ) was also up, gaining 5.55 percent to $21.30 after the company reported Q4 results and announced plans to buy Illinois power plants from Ameren.
Equities Trading DOWN E*TRADE Financial (NASDAQ: ETFC ) shares tumbled 6.61 percent to $11.04. Citadel LLC is selling its 9.6% stake in the company, according to Reuters. U.S. Silica Holdings (NASDAQ: SLCA ) was also down, falling 3.99 percent to $21.88 after the company priced an underwritten secondary public offering of 8,500,000 shares at $22.00 per share.
Shares of Vera Bradley (NASDAQ: VRA ) were down 8.18 percent to $22.85 after the company issued weak first-quarter forecast..
Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 0.36 percent to $92.85, while gold traded up 0.04 percent to $1,589.00. Silver traded down 0.56 percent Thursday to $28.79, while copper rose 0.18 percent to $3.53.
Euro zone European shares were higher in early trade following the dovish comments from the ECB and also on stronger than expected Spanish retail sales data. The Spanish Ibex Index gained 1.93 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index surged 2.21 percent. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 1.02 percent, London's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.76 percent, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.82 percent and German DAX 30 index rose 1 percent. Economics US jobless claims declined 10,000 to 332,000 in the recent week ended March 9. However, economists were expecting claims to increase to 350,000. US wholesale prices rose 0.7% in February, while core wholesale prices increased 0.2%. However, economists were expecting a 0.8% rise in the PPI and a 0.2% gain in core PPI. US current account deficit declined to $110.4 billion in the fourth quarter. However, economists expected the deficit to rise to around $112 billion. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to minus 31.6 in the recent week ended March 10, versus minus 32.4 in the earlier period. Natural gas supplies dropped 145 billion cubic feet for the latest week ended March 8, according to the EIA. However, analysts were expecting a fall between 133 billion and 137 billion cubic feet. The Treasury is set to auction 30-year bonds.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
