Festering concerns about violence in the Middle East caused jitters in the US stock market Thursday, with the major indexes closing the day mixed. As traders wondered how violence in Libya would affect oil prices and the broader US economy, price losses for Bank of America, Hewlett-Packard and Wal-Mart tipped the balance into negative territory.
The Dow was down 37.28 points (0.31 percent) at the close to 12,068.50 and the broader S&P 500 was off 1.30 points (0.10 percent) to 1,306.10. The tech-driven Nasdaq managed to eke out a gain, adding 14.91 points (0.55 percent) at 2,737.90. Late-day reports that Saudi Arabia could step in to meet any shortfall in Libyan oil supplies helped the markets pare earlier losses. "Stocks are still up comfortably from session lows, but the broader market hasn't been able to extend their recent rebound into positive territory," said Briefing.com analysts shortly before the close.
Trade was choppy throughout the day, with airline stocks rebounding from heavy losses over the past few days. United Continental was up 5.7 percent and Delta Air Lines up one percent. Meanwhile shares of auto giant General Motors fell 4.5 percent despite the company reporting a buoyant annual profit report, its first after undergoing bankruptcy reorganisation and returning to the stock market in November.
On the economic front there was mixed news. New aircraft orders drove a 2.7 percent surge in US durable-goods orders in January, after three months of decline, the Commerce Department reported. But without the typically volatile transportation equipment orders, new orders were down 3.6 percent. Meanwhile initial US jobless claims fell by 22,000 last week, official figures showed, pointing to an improving labour market. Bonds got a new boost from the turmoil. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond dropped to 3.438 percent from 3.487 percent late Wednesday, while the 30-year bond fell to 4.535 percent from 4.598 percent a day earlier.
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