Blue-chip stocks rebounded on Wall Street on Wednesday, with a 5 percent gain in Travelers leading the way.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.6 percent, or about 82 points, by the close of trading. The broader Standard Poor’s 500-stock index added 0.2 percent, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 0.8 percent.
In economic reports, data showed that private-sector employers in the United States added 118,000 jobs in November, shy of economists’ expectations.
Apple shares were down 6 percent and accounted for a chunk of the Nasdaq sell-off. Market participants cited a consulting firm’s report about the company losing share in the tablet market, and reports that margin requirements had been raised by at least one clearing firm.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper Gold said it would acquire Plains Exploration Production and McMoRan Exploration for $9 billion in cash and stock in a major expansion into energy. Freeport shares were off 13.4 percent.
Walt Disney gave a much-needed boost to Netflix, becoming the first major Hollywood studio to use the video service to bypass premium channels like HBO that traditionally controlled the delivery of movies to TV subscribers. Netflix shares were down 1.6 percent after a 14 percent jump on Tuesday.
In Europe, shares closed mixed. The FTSE 100 index in London rose 0.2 percent.
The new chief of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, said the country would maintain its fine-tuning of economic policies in 2013 to ensure stable economic growth. That sparked a rally in Chinese shares, with the Shanghai composite index surging 2.9 percent.
“Investors’ bullish receptors were earlier tickled by overnight events in China, where the new leadership announced a drive toward ‘urbanization’, which means more infrastructure investment,” said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak Co. in New York.
Nokia is to partner with China Mobile, the world’s biggest cellular service operator, to introduce a version of its flagship Lumia smartphone tailored for the world’s largest market. Wall Street-listed shares of Nokia rose 6 percent.
Wall Street equities finished slightly lower in quiet trading Tuesday as the back-and-forth wrangling in Washington over the government budget gave investors little reason to act.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss