Thursday Closing Bell: Markets Close Higher after Yellen

November 14, 2013: U.S. equity markets opened mixed Thursday morning as the Nasdaq Composite was weighed down by a weak earnings report after markets closed last night from Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO). The weekly report on new unemployment benefits claims was slightly worse than expected, the U.S. trade deficit was wider than expected, and labor productivity was down. But investors were paying more attention to the confirmation hearing of Janet Yellen as the new Fed chair.

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

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

• 8:30 a.m. – Empire State manufacturing survey
• 8:30 a.m. – Import and export prices
• 9:15 a.m. – Industrial production
• 10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade

Here are the closing bell levels for Thursday:

• S&P500 1790.62 (+8.62; +0.48%)
• DJIA 15876.22 (+54.59; +0.35%)
• NASDAQ 3972.74 (+7.16; +0.18%)
• 10YR TNOTE 2.696% (+0.21875)
• Gold $1,286.30 (+17.90; +1.4%)
• WTI Crude oil $93.76 (-0.12; -0.1%)
• Euro/Dollar: 1.3460 (-0.0027; -0.20%)

Big Earnings Movers: Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is down 11% at $21.35 after putting up weak revenues last night. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is up 0.2% at $79.09 and Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) is down 8.1% at $53.56 on so-so earnings and weak forecasts.

Stocks on the Move: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co. (NASDAQ: HMHC) is up 32.2% at $15.86 after its IPO today. Tile Shop Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: TTS) is down 39% at $12.95 following a short seller’s claim that profits were overstated. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is down 5.4% at $25.07 after halting sales of its Chromebook laptop due to an overheating charger problem.

In all, 246 NYSE stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 20 stocks posted new lows.