MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks ended mixed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising to a new record. Treasury yields rebounded after three losing sessions, as the U.S. economy showed unexpected signs of resilience while the ECB cut rates. Oil climbed after a four-day slide as U.S. supplies showed a surprise weekly decline. Gold closed higher after touching a new intraday record for the 33rd time so far this year.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

A post-earnings rally by Travelers pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average toward another record close. The insurer rose 9% after reporting a quarterly profit of $1.26 billion, roughly three times what it earned a year earlier.

The Dow industrials gained 0.4%, its 39th record of the year. The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced less than 0.1%.

Gains by a number of semiconductor stocks helped cushion the S&P 500's decline even as many of the index's sectors traded lower.

Strong results from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world's largest contract chip maker, reassured investors who had been spooked earlier in the week by a gloomy forecast from ASML Holding, which supplies semiconductor-making machinery to chip makers.

"That, I think, helped to mollify the concern associated with any type of structural problem around appetite for advanced computer chips," said Tony Roth, chief investment officer at Wilmington Trust.

Earlier Thursday, Chinese shares ended lower, weighed by property stocks. The Shanghai Composite Index closed down 1.1%, the Shenzhen Composite Index declined 0.6% and the ChiNext Price Index dropped 0.3%.

Investors seemed disappointed after China's press briefing on the property sector, as policymakers provided limited policy support to facilitate housing destocking.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 1%, also dragged down by property stocks.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.7% lower as investors awaited key U.S. economic data.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9%.

New Zealand's NZX-50 closed 1% higher, bouncing Wednesday's drop which was its worst day in almost 20 months, with near widespread gains. Utility, infrastructure and consumer stocks were among the best performers.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures advanced for the first time in five sessions, supported in part by an unexpected decline in last week's U.S. crude inventories, which followed sizeable back-to-back weekly gains.

Traders continued to weigh risks to global oil supplies against a backdrop of ongoing developments in the Middle East, but the trend in oil prices leaned lower, pressured by skepticism surrounding the latest stimulus measures announced by China overnight, analysts said.

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery edged up 0.4% to settle at $70.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. December Brent crude gained 0.3% to $74.45 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

News that Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar prompted some selling, although "Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu threw some cold water on the sense of optimism by declaring Sinwar's death does not mean the war is over," Mizuho's Robert Yawger said.

December gold rose 0.6% to settle at $2,707.50 an ounce on Comex, after tapping an intraday record high of $2,712.70.

Gold isn't likely reach a price ceiling anytime soon, said Michael Armbruster, co-founder and managing partner at Altavest. "The trend is up and the key drivers for gold are unchanged - out-of-control federal spending which ultimately forces the [Federal Reserve] to debase the U.S. dollar," he said.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

ECB Accelerates Rate Cuts to Counteract Flagging Growth

The European Central Bank lowered interest rates for the second meeting in a row, speeding the pace of rate cuts to support an economy flashing increasing signs of weakness. The ECB said it would reduce its key interest rate to 3.25% from 3.5%. That widens a gap in benchmark borrowing costs with the Federal Reserve.

U.S. Consumers Drive Retail Sales Growth

American shoppers and diners closed out the summer without much sign of cutbacks-fresh evidence of how strong consumer spending has helped insulate the economy from a downturn.

Sales for retailers and eateries grew by 0.4% in September from a month earlier, according to advance data from the Census Bureau, an acceleration from 0.1% growth in August and a higher pace than economists had been expecting. Restaurants and bars fared especially well last month, as did clothing stores, suggesting shoppers' appetite to spend hasn't yet been tapped out.

Meanwhile, a weekly look at unemployment filings showed some continuing pain from hurricanes Helene and Milton-but few marks of a more serious downward spiral in the labor market.

IMF Sees Soft Landing for Global Economy, But Weak Growth Ahead as Trade Barriers Rise

Inflation rates are falling and the global economy is on track for a soft landing, but the outlook for growth is tepid and rising trade barriers are a headwind, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.

In a speech ahead of the fund's annual meetings in Washington, D.C., next week, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said governments should act quickly to halt a sharp rise in their debts, and work together to resolve growing trade tensions.

Consumer prices surged during the Covid-19 pandemic and in the aftermath of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But large and widespread rises in central-bank interest rates have helped tame inflation without pushing the global economy into contraction or sending unemployment rates sharply higher, she said.

Netflix Subscriber Growth Slows Amid Revenue Gains

Netflix's revenue and operating margins continued to improve in the third quarter as subscriber growth slowed, a sign of the company's success in pivoting toward prioritizing profitability over growth.

The streaming giant continued to add new customers in the third quarter, although at a slower pace than a year earlier, when its password-sharing crackdown initially took hold. Netflix added 5.07 million subscribers in the third quarter, compared with 8.76 million net new subscribers during the same period a year earlier.

The company ended the quarter with 282.7 subscribers globally, compared to 247.15 million subscribers a year ago.

Google Executive Overseeing Search and Advertising Leaves Role

Prabhakar Raghavan, the most senior Google executive overseeing its search engine and ads products, is leaving the role after a four-year tenure leading the company's core moneymaking business.

Raghavan will be succeeded by Nick Fox, a longtime Google executive who has worked in the search organization. Raghavan will have a new role as Google's chief technologist working with Chief Executive Sundar Pichai.

The shake-up comes as the Alphabet unit faces unprecedented pressure on its search business from the courts and artificial-intelligence products such as ChatGPT. Google's search advertising business is expected to dip below a 50% market share in the U.S. next year for the first time in more than a decade, according to the research firm eMarketer.

Blackstone Earnings Beat Estimates. CEO Cites a 'Broad-Based Acceleration.'

Shares of Blackstone traded higher after the world's largest private-markets money manager easily beat quarterly profit estimates.

Blackstone stock rose 5% to $167.70, on track for an all-time high, according to Dow Jones Market Data, while the S&P 500 rose 0.3%.

For its third quarter, the company reported distributable earnings-profit the firm can return to shareholders-of $1.01 per share, beating Wall Street's call for 91 cents, according to FactSet.

Expected Major Events for Friday

01:30/CHN: Sep House Price Index

02:00/CHN: Sep Retail sales

02:00/CHN: Sep Fixed Assets Investment

02:00/CHN: Sep Industrial Output

02:00/CHN: 3Q GDP

04:00/MAL: Sep External Trade

07:30/THA: Weekly International Reserves

08:30/HK: Sep Unemployment

08:30/HK: Sep Underemployment

09:59/CHN: Sep FDI Foreign Direct Investment

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 17, 2024 16:47 ET (20:47 GMT)

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