Stock Market Watch

Stocks Held Gains, Sentiment Boosted by Strong Earnings Results

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Stocks held moderate gains by mid-day trade on Thursday as a spate of strong earnings results and positive PMI data from China boosted the market sentiment.

At last check, the Dow Jones gained 0.57%; the NASDAQ Composite Index rose 0.54% while the S&P 500 Index added 0.29%.

First on the U.S. economic data front, the trade deficit widened to 0.4% to $38.9 billion in August, according to the Commerce Department. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a trade deficit of $39.5 billion.

Markit’s manufacturing PMI fell to its lowest level in last 13 months in October. The PMI stood at 51.1 down from a reading of 52.8 in the previous month.

The weekly first time jobless claims climbed 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000, according to the Labor Department. Economists polled by Reuters had expected claims falling to 340,000 for the week ended Oct. 19 while economists surveyed by MarketWatch had predicted 337,000 claims. Last week’s claims were upwardly revised to 362,000.

HSBC’s “flash” PMI for China showed that the pace of manufacturing activities accelerated in October as new orders rose.

Shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) gained sharply on Thursday. The automaker reported record fiscal third quarter operating income. Revenue in the latest period climbed 12%. For the latest quarter, Ford reported a pretax profit of $2.6 billion or 45 cents a share while analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 38 cents a share.

Shares of PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) gained about 6.40% by mid-day trade. The homebuilder reported adjusted earnings of 45 cents a share on revenue of $1.58 billion for the fiscal third quarter. Analysts had expected earnings of 36 cents a share on revenue of $1.46 billion.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is scheduled to report quarterly results after the market close.

 








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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.

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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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