Stocks wobble after Amex earnings, jobless claims

NEW YORK (AP) ? A mixed batch of earnings economic reports and earnings kept the stock market wavering between small gains and losses Thursday.

The Dow was up 24 points to 13,581 shortly after noon. It was down for most of the morning.

American Express sank 2.4 percent, the biggest loss of any Dow stock. The credit-card company reported quarterly revenue late Wednesday that fell short of Wall Street's expectations even though earnings were in line. Amex said card holders' rate of spending has slowed in recent months. Its stock lost $1.43 to $57.94.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose one point to 1,462 and the Nasdaq composite slipped five points 3,099.

"It's basically flat," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist, at Prudential Financial. "This is a market that's waiting for a clear catalyst."

What investors most want, she said, is a sense of direction. They hope companies will lay out clearly where earnings and the economy are headed, Krosby said.

"We basically know what happened in the last quarter," she said. "What we're looking for is what's next: Are we turning a corner? Will demand pick up at the end of the year?"

Strong profits for the insurer Travelers sent its stock up 4 percent. The company said Thursday that claims for catastrophes plunged compared to the same quarter last year, which helped earnings double. Travelers' stock gained $2.78 to $74.16.

BB&T bank, Philip Morris International and Boston Scientific all fell after reporting results that fell short of analysts' forecasts. Google and Microsoft are scheduled to post earnings after the market closes.

Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to say that overall earnings shrank in the third quarter, according to S&P Capital IQ. That would be the first drop in exactly three years.

Weekly applications for unemployment benefits surged to a four-month high, a sharp rise from the previous week. The increase suggested rising layoffs, but the Labor Department pointed to technical reasons behind the swing, mainly delayed figures from one large state, California.

Better earnings from Johnson & Johnson and other companies, along with encouraging reports on industrial production and the housing market, have pushed the stock market higher this week. The Dow is up 1.9 percent and the S&P 500 index up 2.5 percent for the week.

In other trading, yields on U.S. government bonds fell following the jump in weekly claims for unemployment benefits. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dipped to 1.81 percent from 1.82 percent late Wednesday.

Traders typically shift money into Treasurys on signs of weakness in the economy. When bond prices rise, their yields fall.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-wobble-amex-earnings-jobless-claims-142331044--business.html

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