By Carla Mozee and Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. stock market started the
second half of 2014 on a positive note, with investors looking at
auto sales, manufacturing activity and construction spending on
Tuesday morning.
The S&P 500 (SPX) gained 8 points, or 0.4%, to 1,967.77,
topping its previous record close reached on June 20.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) shot up 98 points, or
0.6%, at 16,925. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) rose 33 points, or
0.7%, to 4,441.42.
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action.
Markit's final reading of U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers
index for June came in at 57.3, down from the 57.5 flash
reading.
Ahead of the U.S. reports, two separate manufacturing PMIs from
China showed improvement in June, but manufacturing activity in the
euro zone slowed.
At 10 a.m. Eastern, the Institute for Supply Management's June
manufacturing report is forecast to come in at 55.7%, edging from
55.4% in May. "Overall, the ISM continues to point to an expansion
in the manufacturing sector, which has been one of the
better-performing sectors in the U.S. economy," said Mizuho
strategist Sireen Harajli in a Monday note.
A report on construction spending in May from the Commerce
Department is expected at 10 a.m. Eastern. Outlays for projects are
likely to rise 0.7%, according to economists polled by
MarketWatch.
Investors will also pay attention to June car sales figures to
assess the health of U.S. consumers.
General Motors Co. (GM.XX) shares were up 1.2% as the car maker
reported that its U.S. car and light truck sales rose 1% in June to
267,461 vehicles. Retail sales rose 1% from a year ago while fleet
sales rose 2%. Analysts had expected the company to report a slight
drop in sales compared with June 2013.
Ford Motor Co. (F) shares dropped 0.4% after the company said
U.S. vehicle sales fell 6% to 222,064 in June, as retail sales fell
5%, while fleet sales were off 7%.
Shares of Netflix Inc.(NFLX) rose 3.6% after Goldman Sachs
equity analysts upgraded the stock to a buy, from neutral.
Shares of Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) were down 2.7% after
analysts at Wedbush downgraded the stock to neutral from
outperform, citing risks of a slowdown in the retailer's
Anthropologie unit.
Oracle Corp. (ORCL)on Tuesday said it priced $10 billion in
notes and plans to use the proceeds from the offering for general
corporate purposes. This may involve stock buybacks, paying cash
dividends, repaying debt and funding future takeovers, including
its pending acquisition of Micros Systems Inc. (MCRS) Oracle's bond
pricing is among the largest corporate-bond deals of the year,
according to a Wall Street Journal calculation.
Also in Silicon Valley news, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ)reached a
settlement in three shareholder lawsuits related to its purchase of
software firm Autonomy in 2011. Shares edged up 0.3%.
In other markets, Japan's Nikkei Average rose 1.1% and Europe's
Stoxx 600 was higher, with BNP Paribas SA gaining after the French
bank agreed to pay a record $8.8 billion settlement to U.S.
authorities for violating U.S. sanctions.
U.S. benchmark crude-oil futures (CLQ4)rose 31 cents to $105.68
a barrel and gold futures (GCQ4)climbed $4.90 to $1,326.90 an
ounce.
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