US markets end mostly higher on Thursday

16 Aug 2019 Evaluate

The US markets ended a choppy session mostly higher on Thursday, staging a tentative recovery after strong US retail sales and Walmart earnings gave a reassuring view of US consumers. Walmart surged after raising its full-year profit forecast. The retail giant expressed confidence that it could mitigate the effects of higher tariffs in the US-China trade war more effectively than smaller retailers. Besides, the Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales in the US increased by much more than expected in the month of July, partly reflecting the impact of online retail giant Amazon's (AMZN) Prime Day promotion. The report said retail sales climbed by 0.7 percent in July after rising by a revised 0.3 percent in June. Street had expected retail sales to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.4 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. The stronger than expected retail sales growth came despite a pullback in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, which slid by 0.6 percent in July after climbing by 0.3 percent in June. Excluding the drop in auto sales, retail sales surged up by 1.0 percent in July following a revised 0.3 percent increase in June.

Meanwhile, with a drop in retail inventories offsetting an increase in manufacturing inventories, the Commerce Department released a report showing US business inventories were virtually unchanged in the month of June. The Commerce Department said business inventories came in flat in June after rising by 0.3 percent in May. Street had expected inventories to inch up by 0.1 percent. Retail inventories fell by 0.3 percent in June after climbing by 0.3 percent in May, while manufacturing inventories rose by 0.2 percent for the second consecutive month. The report also said wholesale inventories came in virtually unchanged in June following a 0.4 percent increase in May.

A report released by the Labor Department showed a modest increase in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week ended August 10. The report said initial jobless claims rose to 220,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's revised level of 211,000. Street had expected jobless claims to rise to 214,000 from the 209,000 originally reported for the previous week. The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average inched up to 213,750, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average of 212,750.

Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 99.97 points or 0.39 percent to 25579.39, and S&P 500 was added by 7.00 points or 0.25 percent to 2847.60, while Nasdaq declined 7.32 points or 0.09 percent to 7766.62.

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