Wednesday Closing Bell: Markets Can’t Hold Early Gains

October 30, 2013: U.S. markets opened higher again Wednesday morning as investors waited to hear the FOMC announcement later in the day. The ADP employment report came in weak while the consumer price index came in pretty much as expected. Mortgage applications rose for the week and higher crude oil inventories pushed crude prices down.

European markets closed mixed today, while Asian markets closed higher and Latin American markets closed lower.

Thursday’s calendar includes the following scheduled data releases and events (all times Eastern):

• 7:30 a.m. – Challenger job cut report
• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
• 9:45 a.m. – Chicago PMI
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
• 3:00 p.m. – Farm prices
• 4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Here are the closing bell levels for Wednesday:

• S&P500 1763.31 (-8.64; -0.49%)
• DJIA 15618.76 (-61.59; -0.39)
• NASDAQ 3930.62 (-21.72; -0.55%)
• 10YR TNOTE 2.536% (-0.21875)
• Gold $1,349.30 (+3.80; +0.3%)
• WTI Crude oil $96.77 (-1.43; -1.5%)
• Euro/Dollar: 1.3735 (-0.0011; -0.08%)

Big Earnings Movers: LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) is down 9.4% at $223.90 after beating estimates but offering cautious guidance. General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is up 3.3% at $37.24 after beating estimates. Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is down 1.3% at $47.09 probably due to a loss of cable subscribers. Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is up 1.7% at $65.22 after disappointing earnings. The Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) is down 12.5% at $16.84 on a poor profit outlook for next year.

Stocks on the Move: NQ Mobile Inc. (NYSE: NQ) is up 11.6% at $12.29 as the company continues to claw its way back from an awful short-seller report. Criteo SA (NASDAQ: CRTO) is up 13.9% at $35.30 following its IPO today. Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR) is down 15.3% at $49.16 on lowered guidance.

In all, 219 NYSE stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while only 13 stocks posted new lows.