Stocks Hit by Crude Inventories
NEW YORK (
) -- Stocks closed lower Thursday as selling accelerated late in the session led by energy stocks, which slumped along with crude futures following a build in oil and supply inventories.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
closed down 94 points, or 0.9%, to 10,197. The
lost 11 points, or 1.1%, to 1087, as the
Nasdaq
declined 18 points, or 0.8%, to 2149.
Walt Disney
(DIS) - Get Free Report
shares jumped 3% after hours following an 18% climb in quarterly earnings reported after the closing bell. Revenue climbed 4.5% to $9.87 billion. Excluding items, the media conglomerate and theme park operator posted earnings of 46 cents a share vs. the 41-cent consensus.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index, the Amex Oil Index and the NYSE Energy Index fell 3%, 1.9% and 2.1%, respectively.
The slump in the energy sector followed bearish news that crude stockpiles rose by 1.8 million barrels last week. The government report said distillates and gasoline inventories also grew, up 300,000 and 2.5 million, respectively. According to a survey by Platts, analysts expected a buildup of 1 million barrels of crude and 700,000 in gasoline. Distillates were expected to drop by 900,000.
The price of crude oil settled at $76.94 a barrel after plunging $2.34, which was also pressured by a strengthening greenback. The Dollar Index gained 0.8%.
Dow components
Chevron
(CVX) - Get Free Report
and
Exxon Mobil
(XOM) - Get Free Report
were down 1.4% each.
The S&P was weighed down by declines from a basket of oil and gas-related operations.
Southwestern Energy
(SWN) - Get Free Report
,
Nabors Industries
(NBR) - Get Free Report
,
Range Resources
(RRC) - Get Free Report
,
Baker Hughes
(BHI)
and
Noble Energy
(NBL) - Get Free Report
were down 4.8%, 4.6%, 4.3%, 4.1% and 4.1%, respectively.
One analyst called the build "no real surprise." Though the slide in crude prices may have weighed on energy stocks, he added the selling may have just been a natural pullback.
"We tested some key resistance yesterday at 10,330," says Darin Newsom, senior commodities analyst at Telvent DTN. "This would just be a good reason to move some money around and get out of oil stocks. It's a good catalyst, but the Dow may just be running out of momentum here."
The KBW Bank Index was down 2.1%, and
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Free Report
and
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Free Report
dragged on the Dow, losing 2.3% each.
As profit-taking picked up in the last hour of trading, one strategist noted that a move higher will depend on key sectors.
"You need to see tech move up," says Quincy Krosby, market strategist for Prudential Financial. "You need to see financials in the positive for this market to gain strength. They don't need to lead. They just need to participate in a positive tone."
Gold settled at $1,106.60 an ounce after losing $8, again weighed down by a rebounding dollar. The price did top $1,120 earlier in the session. Related equities fell, with the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index down 2.7%.
The markets appeared to yawn at better-than-expected initial claims data this morning.
The Labor Department reported that initial claims for jobless benefits fell more than expected to a seasonally adjusted 502,000, lowest since January, from an upwardly adjusted 514,000 total the week prior. Before the revision, economists expected a drop of 2,000 to 510,000. The number of those continuing on the unemployment rolls also declined by 139,000, to 5.63 million.
Retailers were in focus
today, as several majors released quarter results.
Wal-Mart
(WMT) - Get Free Report
was one Dow performer in positive territory, advancing 27 cents, or 0.5%, to $53.24.
The
announced third-quarter earnings of 84 cents a share vs. an 81-cent forecast. Total revenue increased to $99.4 billion from $98.3 billion in the year-earlier quarter, with net sales growing 1.1%.
Kohl's
(KSS) - Get Free Report
of 63 cents vs. a 61-cent consensus, as sales jumped 6.5% to $4.1 billion. Shares added 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $54.64.
Nordstrom
(JWN) - Get Free Report
raised its 2009 earnings outlook after the closing bell, and just missed analysts' profit estimates by a penny in posting a profit of $83 million, or 38 cents a share. Revenues grew 3.5% to $1.87 billion.
Dow component
Intel
(INTC) - Get Free Report
slid 16 cents, or 0.8%, at $19.68 after agreeing to pay $1.25 billion to settle an antitrust suit with rival
Advanced Micro Devices
(AMD) - Get Free Report
. AMD shares surged $1.16, or 21.8%, at $6.48.
Hewlett-Packard
(HPQ) - Get Free Report
said it reached a deal to buy
3Com
(COMS) - Get Free Report
after Wednesday's closing bell for
, and it raised its 2010 outlook. 3Com shares bid higher by $1.77, or 31.1%, to $7.46.
Applied Materials
(AMAT) - Get Free Report
also
after the close and announced plans to slash up to 1,500 jobs. Shares sank 43 cents, or 3.3%, at $12.82.
The Treasury Department said in the afternoon that the federal budget deficit grew to $176.4 billion in October on declining revenue. Economists expected the deficit to hit $150 billion.
Stocks in Asia sank overnight, as Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1%, and Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.7%. In Europe, the FTSE in London gained 0.2% and the DAX in Frankfurt declined just 0.1%.
--Written by Sung Moss in New York
