U.S. Markets Snap 2-Day Skid, Eke Out Small Gains

U.S. stocks rallied late, finishing with small gains to snap a two-day losing streak. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices spent most of the session churning just under the break-even marks as traders sifted through one of the heaviest sessions each quarter for company earnings. Better-than-expected durable goods orders last month also provided modest support. Most industry sectors in the S&P 500 clicked green by the closing bell Thursday although the advances were mostly slight.

Orders for goods expected to last more than three rose during June, bolstered by a surge in aircraft demand and more business spending. Orders for durable goods increased 4.2% last month following an upwardly revise 5.2% gain in May, the Commerce Department reported. Orders excluding volatile transportation and defense orders rose 0.7% in June for the fourth straight month, buoyed by more machinery demand and suggesting companies are more confident in the economy. That followed a 5.2 percent gain in May, which was revised higher.

U.S. Jobs
Earlier, first-time application for unemployment claims rose slightly more than expected last week to 343,000, the Labor Department said Thursday, up 7,000 from the prior week and topping expert opinion looking for around 340,000 initial applications.

Commodities were mostly higher, supporting gains for energy and mining stocks. Crude oil for September delivery settled 10 cents higher at $105.49 per barrel while September natural gas fell 6 cents to finish at $3.65 per 1 mln BTU. August gold rose $9.80 to $1,328.70 per ounce while September silver added 14 cents to settle at $20.16 per ounce. September copper rose a penny to $3.19 per pound.

Here's Where The U.S. Markets Stood At Day's End

• Dow Jones Industrial Index up 13.37 (+0.09%) to 15,555.61
• S&P 500 up 4.31 (+0.26%) to 1,690.25
• Nasdaq Composite Index up 25.59 (+0.71%) to 3,605.19

• Hang Seng Index down 0.31%
• Shanghai China Composite Index down 0.60%
• FTSE 100 down 0.49%

• (+) ALCS, Accepts $47-million buyout offer from Argonne Capital Group, with shareholders receiving $14 in cash for each share they now own. Retailer has until Aug. 23 to solicit a better offer.
• (+) TRIP, Adjusted Q2 earnings of $0.52 per share beat consensus forecasts by $0.03. Revenue increased 25% to $246.9 million, also topping estimates by $9.9 million.
• (+) FB, Social network site reports 53% increase in revenue over year-ago levels to $1.81 billion, topping the analyst consensus by around $190 million.

• (-) SQNM, Reports Q2 net loss of $0.27 per share lags analyst estimates by $0.06 per share. Revenue climbs 91.0% from the same quarter last year to $34.85 million, trailing the consensus view by $11.4 million.
• (-) CROX, Shoe company reports Q2 earnings of $0.48 per share, missing Wall Street forecasts by $0.16. EPS and revenue guidance for the current quarter also trail consensus view by wide margins.
• (-) CLFD, Reports fiscal Q3 earnings of $0.09 per share, down from $0.14 a year ago, weighed down by rising cost of sales and a more than 10-fold increase in income tax expenses. Revenue rose 25% to $13.5 million.