Stocks inched up on Tuesday after the market’s longest losing streak this year, with major retailers leading gains on positive profits and outlooks.
In the absence of major economic news recently, equity trading has been linked to U.S. Treasuries, whose rising yields have kept stock gains in check. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note dipped to 2.83 percent on Tuesday after hitting 2.88 percent on Monday, a two-year high.
“This has been a technical pullback (in stocks), and with the 10-year yield near 3 percent we are pretty close to reversing it,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York, pointing to what he called a buying opportunity on U.S. equities, which fell for four consecutive sessions.
Best Buy and J.C. Penney led a string of retailers posting results, sending their shares up in early trading. Consumer-focused shares had recently been battered as many earlier reports on retailers’ sales failed to impress investors.
Cardillo said despite the better results in some of the retailers, the market continues to be weak in the short term after closing below 1,650 on Monday.
“The technical outlook worsened and we could still test 1,635/1,645” on the S&P 500, he said.
The S&P closed lower on Monday at 1,646.06, below its 50-day moving average for a second straight day and at its lowest since July 8.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 0.46 point to 15,011.2, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.52 points or 0.09 percent, to 1,647.58 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 9.861 points or 0.27 percent, to 3,598.948.
TJX Cos (TJX.N), the owner of the discount T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains, reported better-than-expected quarterly sales, bucking a trend of weak results at a host of retailers. Its shares gained 4.9 percent to $53.24.
Home Depot (HD.N) shares lost their premarket gains and were down 0.5 percent at $74.80 after the world’s largest home improvement chain raised its yearly outlook.
Shares of Best Buy (BBY.N) jumped 8.8 percent to $33.43 after the world’s largest consumer electronics chain reported a higher quarterly profit.
Urban Outfitters (URBN.O) shares gained 9 percent $43.50 one day after the apparel retailer’s quarterly profit beat market estimates.
J.C. Penney (JCP.N) shares gained 4.5 percent to $13.82 after the troubled retailer said the back-to-school season has so far been “encouraging.
Barnes & Noble (BKS.N) shares tumbled 11 percent to $14.84 after the book retailer reported a steeper quarterly loss and its founder halted a plan to buy the company’s stores.
China-based Trina Solar (TSL.N) reported a smaller quarterly loss as it shipped more solar panels to newer markets and diversified sources of revenue. Its shares rose 6.9 percent to $7.25.
REUTERS
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