Nasdaq Closes Firmly Positive On Apple Rally, Dow Ends Flat - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - With traders weighing upbeat earnings news against concerns about the situation in Ukraine, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Thursday.

A notable advance by shares of Apple (AAPL) contributed to a strong gain by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, while the Dow ended the day flat.

The Dow ended the session unchanged at 16,501.65, while the Nasdaq climbed 21.37 points or 0.5 percent to 4,148.34 and the S&P 500 edged up 3.22 points 0.2 percent to 1,878.61.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) jumped 8.2 percent to their best closing level in four months after the iPod and iPhone maker reported second quarter earnings and revenues that came in above analyst estimates.

Apple, which is not a Dow component, also increased its stock repurchase authorization by $30 billion, raised its dividend by 8 percent and announced a 7-for-1 stock split.

Meanwhile, the flat performance by the Dow came as strong gains by Caterpillar (CAT), United Health (UNH) and Home Depot (HD) were offset by notable losses by telecom giants Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T).

Before the start of trading, some positive sentiment was generated by the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing a bigger than expected increase in durable goods orders in the month of March.

The report said durable goods orders surged up by 2.6 percent in March after jumping by a revised 2.1 percent in February. Economists had expected orders to climb by 2.0 percent.

Excluding an increase in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still rose by 2.0 percent in March compared to economist estimates for 0.9 percent growth.

However, a separate report from the Labor Department showing a bigger than expected increase in weekly jobless claims helped to keep buying interest somewhat subdued.

Renewed concerns about escalating tensions in eastern Ukraine also weighed on the markets amid reports that Ukrainian forces killed several pro-Russian militants during an "anti-terrorism" operation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described the interim Ukrainian government's use of armed force against its own population as a "serious crime against the people" and warned of "consequences."

Sector News

Many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the relatively lackluster close by the broader markets.

Housing stocks saw significant strength on the day, however, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index surging up by 2 percent. With the gain, the index more than offset yesterday's 1.1 percent loss.

D.R. Horton (DHI) helped to lead the housing sector higher, with the homebuilder jumping by 8.3 percent after reporting better than expected second quarter results.

Meanwhile, substantial weakness was visible among telecom stocks, with the NYSE Arca Telecom Index tumbling by 2.6 percent. Verizon posted a steep loss after reporting first quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.

Oil service and gold stocks also moved to the downside on the day despite increases by the prices of their associated commodities.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in yet another mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all ended the day on the upside. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries closed roughly flat after recovering from an early move to the downside. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged up by less than a basis point to 2.688 percent.

Looking Ahead

While Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Visa (V), and Starbucks (SBUX) are among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading, Ford (F), Tyco (TYC) and Whirlpool (WHR) are due to report their results before the start of trading on Friday.

Traders are also likely to keep an eye on any further developments regarding Ukraine as well as Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan's final report on U.S. consumer sentiment in April.