Wednesday Closing Bell: Markets Edge Higher on Less Bad News

October 9, 2013: U.S. markets opened slightly higher Wednesday morning but sank to daily lows by mid-morning following the inventory report on crude oil, which showed another massive addition to supplies. The release of the minutes from the last FOMC minutes added little to what was already said about the tapering of Fed asset purchases.

Asian, European, and Latin American markets all closed mixed today.

Thursday’s calendar includes speeches by St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo, and San Francisco Fed President John Williams and the following scheduled data releases and events (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits (not expected to be released due to government shutdown)
• 8:30 a.m. – Import and export prices (not expected)
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
• 1:00 p.m. – 30-year bond auction
• 2:00 p.m. – Treasury budget
• 4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Here are the closing bell levels for Wednesday:

• S&P500 1,656.40 (+0.95; +0.06%)
• DJIA 14,802.98 (+26.45; +0.18%)
• NASDAQ 3,677.78 (-17.06; -0.46%)
• 10YR TNOTE 2.669% (-0.28125)
• Gold $1,307.20 (-17.40; -1.3%)
• WTI Crude oil $101.61 (-1.88; -1.8%)
• Euro/Dollar: 1.3521 (-0.0052; -0.38%)

Big Earnings Movers: Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) is up 2% at $8.10 after a good earnings report last night. Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) is down 6.7% at $66.50 after reporting dismal results from China. Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) is up 2.1% at $114.54 after missing estimates. Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) is down 1.1% at $68.69 after lowering estimates. Adtran Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) is down 9% at $24.34.

Stocks on the Move: Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) is down 66% at $5.83 following an announced hold on clinical trials of a leukemia treatment. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is up 9% at $22.61 after its analysts meeting. Men’s Wearhouse Inc. (NYSE: MW) is up 27.8% at $45.05 after receiving (and rejecting) an unsolicited buyout offer from Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB). SFX Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: SFXE) is down 8.5% at $11.89 following its morning IPO.

In all, 24 NYSE stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 82 stocks posted new lows.