U.S. stocks little changed as investors weigh Fed minutes

7/10/2013

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks were little changed as investors analyzed minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting for signs on when the central bank might slow the pace of stimulus efforts.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added less than 0.1 percent to 1,652.62 at 4 p.m. in New York, after rising and falling as much as 0.3 percent during the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 8.68 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,291.66. About 5.7 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, or 13 percent below the three-month average.

“The minutes largely reiterated what the chairman said in June,” Ryan Larson, the Chicago-based head of U.S. equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc., said by e- mail. His firm oversees $290 billion. “Tapering, whether it will be this year or next, is inevitable. The market was initially encouraged that the Fed is waiting on additional data, but possibly taken aback by the fact that about half the participants indicated that asset purchases should end later this year.”

Minutes from the central bank’s June 18-19 meeting, released today in Washington, showed that while several members judged that a reduction in asset purchases “would likely soon be warranted,” many officials want to see more signs employment is picking up before they’ll begin slowing the pace of $85 billion in monthly bond purchases.

Jobs Data

Fed officials met before last week’s Labor Department jobs report for the month of June exceeded expectations, with the economy adding 195,000 jobs and the unemployment rate unchanged at 7.6 percent.

The S&P 500 rallied 2.4 percent over the past four days as the June employment data eased concern over a scaling back of Fed stimulus. The index has recovered from a 4.8 percent drop between June 19 and 24, triggered when Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank may reduce its bond-buying this year and end the program in 2014 as economic risks subside. The benchmark gauge is up 16 percent for the year, and within 1 percent of a record high set on May 21.

Record High

Data today showed inventories at U.S. wholesalers unexpectedly declined in May by the most since September 2011 as sales surged, pointing to a pickup in orders and production.

In China, a report from the General Administration of Customs in Beijing showed that exports fell 3.1 percent in June from a year earlier. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey had called for a 3.7 percent gain. Imports dropped 0.7 percent last month, compared with the median projection of a 6 percent increase. China’s trade surplus with the U.S. slipped to $17.49 billion in June from $19.35 billion in May.

Investors have also been watching corporate earnings. Alcoa Inc. unofficially started the U.S. earnings season on July 8 with results that beat analysts’ estimates. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo are among companies releasing results later this week.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, slid 1 percent to 14.21. The equity volatility gauge, which moves in the opposite direction as the S&P 500 about 80 percent of the time, reached a six-month high on June 20 and has fallen 31 percent since.

Banks Slip

Financial companies lost 0.6 percent. U.S. regulators proposed a plan yesterday that said the eight largest firms would need to retain capital equal to at least 5 percent of assets, while their banking units would have to hold a minimum of 6 percent. Bank of America dropped 1.2 percent to $13.37. Wells Fargo sank 1.5 percent to $42.07.

Nabors Industries fell 6.3 percent to $14.99 after the company said it expects second-quarter operating income of $88 million to $91 million, below estimates of $110.1 million. The owner and operator of land drilling rigs cited adverse weather and intense competition, particularly for pressure pumping in the U.S. and Canada.

Best Buy Co. plunged 4.2 percent to $28.47. Cleveland Research Co. wrote in a report that a seasonal slowdown during the May to June period appears more pronounced this year for the world’s largest consumer-electronics retailer.

Fastenal Co. slid 2.8 percent to $45.77 after the seller of industrial and construction supplies reported second-quarter sales of $847.6 million, lower than analyst estimates for $857.4 million.

Hewlett-Packard

Health-care, utility and technology shares rose the most among 10 S&P 500 groups, climbing at least 0.5 percent.

Hewlett-Packard increased 1.8 percent, the most in the Dow, to $25.93. Citigroup upgraded its recommendation for the computer maker to buy from sell and doubled its price estimate for the shares to $32. A survey among chief information officers signaled a “positive inflection” for HP’s services, Citigroup analysts said.

Cisco Systems Inc. gained 1 percent to $25.41, the highest level since May 2010, after surging 2.2 percent yesterday. Microsoft Corp. advanced 1 percent to $34.70.

Family Dollar Stores jumped 7.1 percent to $68.50. The second-biggest U.S. dollar-store retailer reported fiscal third- quarter earnings of $1.05 a share, beating analyst estimates of $1.03 a share. Same-store sales climbed 2.9 percent as average transaction value and customer traffic increased for the quarter ended June 1.

Dollar General Corp. increased 5.8 percent to $54.78. Dollar Tree Inc. added 2.8 percent to $54.29.

--With assistance from Jonathan Morgan in Frankfurt. Editor: Jeff Sutherland

To contact the reporters on this story: Inyoung Hwang in New York at ihwang7@bloomberg.net; Alex Barinka in New York at abarinka2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net