Stocks on Thursday posted modest advances, as investors cheered upbeat back-to-school sales reports by Wal-Mart and Macy’s, and a report on business conditions in the services sector indicated that a moderate expansion was still under way.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 57.88 points, at 13,363.35. United Technologies and Honeywell International were the biggest contributors to the Dow’s advance. Home Depot and American International Group were the principal losers.
Among the Standard & Poor’s 500 companies, banks and other financial-services stocks continued to slump.
Health-care stocks performed well, led by Biogen Idec, which reported better-than-expected sales of its treatment for multiple sclerosis. Shares rose $3.66, or nearly 6 percent, to $66.53. Merck climbed $1.07, or 2 percent, to $50.47, reflecting a favorable court ruling in a lawsuit against its Vioxx pain reliever.
Apple, which lost more than 5 percent Wednesday on word the company was cutting the price of its high-end iPhone by $200, continued to lose ground. Shares lost $1.75, to $135.01, after the company offered a $100 credit to customers who had already bought one.
Winners outnumbered losers by a 5-3 ratio among New York Stock Exchange stocks and a 4-3 ratio among Nasdaq stocks.
Long-term Treasury securities lost ground. Gold futures traded above $700 an ounce for the first time since May 2006, as traders bet that the Federal Reserve would trim short-term U.S. interest rates soon. Gold stocks advanced, led by Barrick Gold, which rose $2.80, or 8 percent, to $36.20.
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Traders awaited Friday’s report on job growth and unemployment in August. Economists surveyed by Reuters on average expected that 110,000 new jobs were created in the public and private sectors last month, up from 92,000 in July. But several economists trimmed their forecasts after a report of weaker-than-expected private-sector job growth Wednesday in a monthly survey by Automatic Data Processing and weak data on employment in Thursday’s report on business conditions in the services sector.
Oil continued its recent climb, reflecting a decline in U.S. oil inventories. Oil for October delivery rose 57 cents a barrel, to $76.30.