Investing.com – Wall Street traded mixed but was off the day’s lows as a turnaround in crude appeared to buoy sentiment and investors digested a myriad of earnings, while stocks hit their longest streak of tranquility since 2006.
At 12:04PM ET (17:04GMT), the Dow Jones fell 37 points, or 0.19%, the S&P 500 slipped less than a point, or 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite inched up 1 point, or 0.02%.
The last time the S&P 500 closed down by at least 1% was 81 trading days ago on October 11, the longest streak of tranquility since 2006, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
In post-election years, the S&P 500 has averaged a loss of 1.8% in February since 1950, the weakest month of the year, but the principal global equity benchmark has yet to show signs of fatigue as it hovers near record highs.
The “excuse” for today’s recovery from an initially weaker open was a turnaround in oil prices despite a paradoxically huge build in U.S. crude stockpiles.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories jumped by 13.830 million barrels in the week ended February 3, compared to expectations for a crude-stock build of only 2.529 million barrels.
After an initial knee-jerk reaction to the downside, oil recovered with no clear bullish news for the move on the wires.
U.S. crude futures gained 0.58% to $52.47 by 12:06PM ET (17:06GMT), while Brent oil advanced 0.58% to $55.37.
Equities accompanied the shift in sentiment, pulling off intraday lows, as market participants digested earnings in a session devoid of major economic data.
In a big move on earnings, Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) caught eyes as shares sank more than 9% after the drug maker projected disappointing 2017 sales for its hepatitis C drugs.
Among blue-chips, Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) gained nearly 1% as the entertainment giant beat on earnings-per-share, despite missing on revenues and its chief executive Bob Iger said he's open to extending his term.
Outside the downpour of earnings, Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) moved more than 1% higher after an analyst upgrade that suggested the social media company could see user growth push revenues thanks to the "Twitter President”.