By Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, aiming
for fresh record closes after better-than-expected reports on
consumer sentiment, employment and Chicago-area business
conditions.
The S&P 500 (SPX) was last up 3 points, or 0.2%, to 1,806,
while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 18 points, or
0.1%, to 16,091.
The Nasdaq Composite(RIXF) gained 17 points, or 0.4%, to
4,034.
Before the market open, the Labor Department said jobless claims
fell to 316,000 in the week ended Nov. 23, better than forecasts
for a rise to 330,000. At the same time, the Commerce Department
said durable-goods orders dropped 2% in October, a smaller drop
than the 2.2% expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. But
other forecasts called for a 2% decline, and many details of the
durable-goods report pointed to softness.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Chicago purchasing managers
index came in at 63 for November, falling from October's level but
better than expectations for 59. In addition, a gauge of consumer
sentiment rose to a final reading of 75.1 in November, topping
forecasts for 73.
In Wednesday's deluge of economic data, the consumer-sentiment
report was the most critical, according to Kristina Hooper, a U.S.
investment strategist at Allianz Global Investors.
"The consumer is in the recovery room," Hooper told MarketWatch.
She said the consumer was "dramatically damaged by the shutdown and
the debt-ceiling debate," but most of the damage from that
government dysfunction appears to have been short-term.
On Tuesday, stocks finished slightly higher, with the Nasdaq
scoring its first close above 4,000 since September 2000. The Dow
eked out another record close, while the S&P 500 edged up but
finished below Friday's record close of 1,804.76.
* Today's movers & shakers: Hewlett Packard Co. jumped 7%
after its stronger-than-anticipated quarterly results late Tuesday.
Shares of Infoblox Inc. , a data-center technology company, slid
24% following its weaker-than-expected outlook late Tuesday. Read
more in the Movers & Shakers column.
* The buzz: A Santa Claus rally could be coming to town,
according to some data crunching by research firm S&P Capital
IQ. For years like this one, when the S&P 500 is up 20% or more
in the first 11 months, the December gain has been 1.8%, with an
increase 73% of the time, the firm says. Meanwhile, MarketWatch
columnist Mark Hulbert says the stock market today is less
overheated than it was in December 1999, the first time the Nasdaq
traded above 4,000.
* Other markets:Chinese stocks finished with gains on hopes of
financial reforms, while European stocks closed higher after
better-than-expected consumer-confidence data from Germany. The
dollar gained, while gold and oil lost ground.
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