Stocks end higher as retailers rally
U.S. stocks rose slightly Wednesday as Urban Outfitters and Target helped retailers rally. That was enough to overcome losses by energy companies and market turbulence stirred up by the controversy over President Trump’s manufacturing council.
Urban Outfitters and Target did better in the second quarter than analysts expected, and Target raised its forecasts for the year. That helped companies that sell clothing and other retailers, which have been hit hard by online competition. Technology companies and firms that make and sell household goods also traded higher.
A wide variety of retailers saw their shares sink Tuesday based on weak earnings reports. With Wal-Mart and Ross Stores in line to report their own results Thursday, investors could change their minds again.
“This sector is not for the faint of heart,” said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist for TD Ameritrade. “The market is trying to figure out who the winners and losers are going to be.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 3.50 points, or 0.1%, to 2,468.11. The Dow Jones industrial average added 25.88 points, or 0.1%, to 22,024.87. The Nasdaq composite gained 12.10 points, or 0.2%, to 6,345.11. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies inched up 0.30 point to 1,383.53.
After Urban Outfitters beat second-quarter expectations, some analysts said there are some signs the company’s business is recovering after years of struggles. The stock rose $2.94, or 17.5%, to $19.76.
Target gained $1.96, or 3.6%, to $56.31 and raised its annual estimates.
Gap climbed 50 cents, or 2.3%, to $22.57. Express added 27 cents, or 4.8%, to $5.84.
Benchmark U.S. crude lost 77 cents, or 1.6%, to $46.78 a barrel in New York. Brent crude fell 53 cents, or 1%, to $50.27 a barrel in London. That pulled energy companies down further. EOG Resources fell $2.04, or 2.3%, to $84.98 and Marathon Oil fell 34 cents, or 2.9%, to $11.19.
Stocks made bigger gains earlier in the day, but they slipped after a group of chief executives, including the heads of 3M and Campbell Soup, said they were leaving Trump’s manufacturing council over comments he made about the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend.
Trump then tweeted that he is ending that council as well as a strategy and policy group.
The dollar fell to 110.16 yen from 110.58 yen. The euro rebounded to $1.1769 from $1.1734.
Bond prices turned higher. The yield on the 10year Treasury note fell to 2.23% from 2.27%.
Gold rose $3.20 to $1,282.90 an ounce. Silver climbed 23 cents to $16.94. Copper jumped 6 cents to $2.95 a pound.
In energy trading, wholesale gasoline lost 2 cents to $1.56 a gallon. Heating oil fell 3 cents to $1.57 a gallon. Natural gas shed 5 cents to $2.89 per 1,000 cubic feet.
France’s CAC 40 rose 0.7%, and Germany’s DAX and the FTSE i100 in Britain rose by the same amount. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 retreated 0.1% while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.9%. The South Korean Kospi advanced 0.6%.