Stocks on Wall Street opened broadly unchanged on Thursday after a seven-day winning streak and a jobless claims report that provided little insight into the Federal Reserve’s decisions about stimulus policy.
In early trading the Standard Poor’s 500-share index was 0.1 percent lower, the Dow Jones industrial average was flat and the Nasdaq composite 0.1 percent.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 292,000, the lowest level since 2006 and well below expectations of 330,000 new claims.
But the data was skewed due to technical problems in claims processing because two states were upgrading their computer systems and did not process all the claims they received during the week, muddying the last major reading on the labor market before the Federal Reserve’s next meeting.
The distorted data has made it hard for investors to reach any conclusions about the labor market, said Gordon Charlop, a managing director at Rosenblatt Securities in New York.
“But the fact of the matter remains, the direction is obviously towards tapering, which is really a good thing,” Mr. Charlop said. The question is, how measured the Fed will be in reducing stimulus, he added, “and you have to think they are going to err on the side of caution. They will be very measured in their approach and won’t do anything precipitous.”
The S. P. 500 has risen 3.4 percent over the past seven sessions, its longest winning streak in two months, as concerns about a Western military strike against Syria have faded and stocks have been buoyed by stronger-than-expected economic data from China.
The United States will insist Syria take rapid steps to show it is serious about abandoning its chemical arsenal, senior United States officials said, as Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Geneva for talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia.
United States export prices fell 0.5 percent in August, its sixth straight monthly decline, while import prices remained flat. Expectations were for export prices to rise 0.1 percent and import prices to climb 0.4 percent.
Employment is a key component of the central bank’s planning for economic stimulus, known as quantitative easing.
The Fed will hold a two-day policy meeting ending next Wednesday when a decision is expected about whether to make changes to its current bond purchases of $85 billion a month to boost the economy.
The weakened dollar saw the euro push hold around $1.3309 as it recovers from the selloff seen last week last week following the European Central Bank’s commitment to maintain loose monetary policy despite signs of recovery in the euro area.
While the dollar bought 99.50 yen, down about 0.4 percent. It has moved away from Wednesday’s high of 100.60 yen, which was the highest since July 22, according to Reuters data.
European markets were mixed, with the FTSEurofirst 300 index up 0.1 percent. In Asia, markets were mainly higher, with the Shanghai composite ending the session up 0.6 percent.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss