Closing Market Summary: Nasdaq Composite Leads Stocks Higher
The stock market finished the Thursday session on a higher note with the S&P 500 climbing 0.5%. The benchmark index registered an early high within the first 90 minutes and inched to a new session best during the final hour of the action.
Equities rallied out of the gate with the financial sector (+1.1%) providing noteworthy support for the second day in a row. The growth-oriented sector extended its September gain to 1.9% versus a more modest uptick of 0.4% for the S&P 500.
Although financials did some heavy lifting, other influential sectors like health care (+0.8%) and technology (+0.7%) also served up a measure of support. The health care sector settled ahead of the broader market, but the biotech group was a reluctant participant in the advance. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 275.07, +2.09) added 0.8%.
For its part, technology rallied amid strength in chipmaker stocks. SanDisk (SNDK 103.22, +3.00) and Skyworks (SWKS 57.80, +1.92) led the charge with gains close to 3.0% apiece, while the broader PHLX Semiconductor Index added 1.5% amid upbeat commentary from Topeka Capital Markets.
Elsewhere among influential groups, consumer discretionary (+0.4%) and industrials (+0.4%) lagged in the early going, but finished just behind the broader market. In the discretionary sector, the relative strength of high-growth names like Netflix (NFLX 459.01, +4.48) and Priceline.com (PCLN 1197.20, +23.40) masked the underperformance of homebuilders following today's disappointing Housing Starts/Building Permits report. The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 24.01, -0.12) lost 0.5%.
On the downside, energy (-0.5%) and utilities (-0.7%) finished in the red with the energy sector following the price of crude oil, which slid 1.3% to $93.07. As for the sector, the group narrowed its week-to-date gain to 1.0% and widened its quarterly loss to 4.3%.
Treasuries ended flat after surrendering their overnight gains. The 10-yr yield settled at 2.63%.
Participation was ahead of recent averages with more than 660 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.
Economic data included Initial Claims, Housing Starts/Building Permits, and the Philadelphia Fed Survey:
* The latest Initial Claims report revealed a drop to 280,000 from 316,000, while the consensus expected a more modest decline to 305,000
* The reading marked its lowest level since July and aptly supports the view that the weak payroll growth seen in August is likely to be revised higher
* Housing Starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 956,000 units in August from a revised 1.117 million units in July, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decrease to 1.045 million units
* Building permits fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 998,000 versus a revised 1.057 million for July, while the consensus expected permits to come in at 1.054 million
* The Philadelphia Fed Survey for September fell to 22.5 from 28.0, while economists polled had expected that the Survey would slip to 23.5
Tomorrow, the Leading Indicators report for August (consensus 0.4%) will be released at 10:00 ET. In addition, investors will be responding to the results of the independence referendum in Scotland.
* Nasdaq Composite +10.0% YTD * S&P 500 +8.8% YTD * Dow Jones Industrial Average +4.2% YTD * Russell 2000 -0.3% YTD