While you were sleeping: UPDATED Wall St stocks steady as oil slips

 Wall Street made slight gains as the latest US economic data was mixed and oil prices moved lower.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was less than four points up at 18,533.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2% to 5225.48 after reaching a record high at the end of last week. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index is also near its high but rose marginally to finish at 2181.74. It hasn’t had a daily move of 1% or more in either direction since July 8.

"We're probably going to consolidate and then head higher," LPL Financial chief economic strategist John Canally told Reuters. "The odds of a US recession are low. The odds of a global recession are low. Central banks are cooperating."

In the Dow, declines in shares of American Express and those of DuPont, down 0.9% and 0.7% respectively, outweighed advances in shares of Pfizer and those of Walt Disney, up 0.6% and 0.5% respectively.

Shares of Gap dropped 6.3% after the company posted sales that fell short of expectations. However, there were positive earnings surprises including from Endo International (up 21.8%), Microchip Technology (up 7.1%) and embattled Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals.

Inventories advance
The latest US economic data were mixed. A Commerce Department report showed that wholesale inventories gained 0.3% in June, an upward revision. However, a Labor Department report showed US nonfarm productivity posted a surprise decline, falling at a 0.5% annual rate in the second quarter.

"The reason the economy has still been able to expand is because of labour input. Firms are hiring people at a reasonably healthy rate," Joseph LaVorgna, chief economist at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York, told Reuters.

"However, we do not believe this can last because strong hiring in the face of weak productivity necessarily implies a further deterioration in corporate profit margins."

Oil prices fall
Meanwhile, oil prices fell, giving up some of Monday's gains, as concern about global supply returned to the forefront of investors' minds. US crude oil fell 0.6% to $US42.77 a barrel.

"The oil market remains in a battle between the trading community which focuses on the shorter term data and information which has been mostly bearish, versus the investment trading crowd which is focused on the medium-to-longer term which is projected to be bullish," Dominick Chirichella, senior partner at the Energy Management Institute in New York, told Reuters.

"Both WTI and Brent will have to move above the $US50 per barrel level and remain there for the shorter-term traders to regain confidence that the market is embarking on a new up leg," Mr Chirichella told Reuters.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the day with a 0.9% increase from the previous close. The UK's FTSE 100 index rose 0.6%, France's CAC 40 index gained 1.2%, while Germany's DAX index rallied 2.5%, bolstered by shares of Munich Re, BMW and Daimler.

(BusinessDesk)

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