Stocks on Wall Street opened slightly lower on Thursday before recovering, as new data on jobless claims and retail sales helped steady a sell-off in global markets that began overnight in Japan.
In early trading the Standard Poor’s 500-share index was up 0.2 percent, the Dow Jones industrial average also rose 0.2 percent, and the Nasdaq composite increased 0.07 percent.
Investors are trying to gauge when central banks around the world — and particularly the Federal Reserve — will pull back on their accommodative monetary policy. In Japan, the Nikkei tumbled 6.4 percent, and European markets followed it downward.
But United States economic data provided support and helped stocks trim declines. Retail sales rose more than expected in May, while a drop in jobless claims last week pointed to a labor market that was healing.
Merger and acquisition activity buoyed investor optimism as Gannett jumped after saying it would buy the Belo Corporation for $1.5 billion. Shares in both companies were up 27 percent in early trading.
Comments last month from the Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, have stoked worries that the central bank could slow its $85-billion-a-month bond purchase program sooner than expected. Investors will be looking to the Fed’s policy-setting committee meeting next week for clarity on how soon the Fed will end its stimulus measures.
Nervousness over the withdrawal of economic support was exacerbated earlier this week when the Bank of Japan held its monetary policy steady; investors have been unwinding some of the trades built around central bank support. The benchmark S.P. 500 has advanced 13 percent this year.
“The easy money helped us on the way up. The concern is mounting it’s going to end,” said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York.
“The action has been choppy and erratic,” said Mr. Bakhos. “It’s a case of investors looking to limit exposure ahead of next week’s Fed meeting.”
Still, the World Bank cut its outlook for global growth amid a deeper-than-expected recession in Europe and slowdown in some emerging markets. The bank forecast the world’s gross domestic product would grow 2.2 percent this year, down from its previous forecast of 2.4 percent growth and slightly below last year’s growth of 2.3 percent.
Safeway shares surged 16 percent after Empire said it would buy Safeway’s assets in Canada for $5.7 billion.
Clearwire’s board urged shareholders to accept a tender offer from Dish Network over an earlier deal with Clearwire’s majority owner, Sprint Nextel, to buy out the minority shareholders of the wireless service provider.
Apple is reportedly exploring selling iPhones with bigger screens, as well as less-expensive models in a range of colors, over the next year.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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