U.S. Stocks Close Little Changed As Choppy Trading Persists

(RTTNews) - Stocks turned in a lackluster performance during trading on Thursday, extending the choppy trading seen throughout much of the week. The major averages eventually ended the session narrowly mixed.

While the Nasdaq edged down 4.04 points or less than a tenth of a percent to15,096.14, the Dow inched up 53.58 points or 0.1 percent to a new record closing high of 37,710.10 and the S&P 500 crept up 1.77 points or less than a tenth of a percent to a nearly two-year closing high of 4.783.35.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came even after the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended December 23rd.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 218,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week's revised level of 206,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 210,000 from the 205,000 originally reported for the previous week.

While the data added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates, traders remained reluctant to make significant moves going into the end of the year.

The National Association of Realtors also released a report showing pending home sales were unexpectedly unchanged in the month of November.

NAR said its pending home sales index stayed at 71.6 in November after tumbling by a revised 1.2 percent in October.

Economists had expected pending home sales to jump by 1.0 percent compared to the 1.5 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.

Trading activity may pick back up next week, as the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly jobs report next Friday.

Reports on manufacturing and service sector activity may also attract attention along with the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.

Sector News

Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors showed only moves on the day.

Gold stocks saw considerable weakness, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index tumbling by 2.5 percent after ending Wednesday's trading at a five-month closing high.

The weakness among gold stocks came as the price of gold for February delivery fell $9.60 to $2,083.50 an ounce.

A steep drop by the price of crude oil also weighed on energy stocks, dragging the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 1.8 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Thursday, although Japanese stocks bucked the uptrend. While Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.4 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.4 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 2.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

In the bond market, treasuries gave back ground after moving notably higher in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 6.1 basis points to 3.850 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Friday is likely to remain subdued ahead of the New Year's weekend, although a report on Chicago-area business activity may attract some attention.