The Dow closed higher, with the S&P500 and Nasdaq closing flat overnight. A morning rally on earnings optimism lost steam in the afternoon investors turning cautious ahead of earnings results still left to come.
Gains in bank stocks and commodities helped to support the market while weakness in technology stocks weighed on the market.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 21 points to 9,886. The S&P500 Index rose 5 points to 1,076 and the NASDAQ closed flat at 2,139.
In company news: Shares in alternative asset manager The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) rose 8.28 per cent to $16.08. According to Reuters the company is to list up to eight of its companies in its portfolio.
Shares in international financial advisory firm Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) fell 1.19 per cent to $41.40. The company’s CEO and Chairman Bruce Wasserstein is in hospital recovering from an irregular heartbeat. The company says Mr Wasserstein’s condition is serious but that he is recovering.
Shares in home builder KB Home (NYSE:KBH) dropped 7.84 per cent to $15.17. Reuters reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the company over some possible accounting and disclosure issues.
And shares in retailer The Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) gained 1.88 per cent to $22.73. JPMorgan has raised its rating on the stock to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’. JPMorgan says the company is likely to reap the rewards from a return to inflationary trends in the coming months ahead.
Checking the NASDAQ Top 100: The best performer was Lam Research adding 4.76% to $37.91. Pharmaceutical Product Development and Applied Materials were the next best performers. Baidu lost the most ground, falling 3.18% to $413.49. Followed by Wynn Resorts and Illumina.
