Market Wrap: Tech and Health Sectors Send Stocks Higher

Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy By MATTHEW CRAFT

NEW YORK -- A modest gain for the stock market on Wednesday tugged the Dow Jones industrial average back into the black for the year as investors set aside concerns about Ukraine, Iraq and earnings, at least for a day.

Amazon (AMZN) led the gains in light trading, despite a mixed batch of economic and corporate news. The gains were broad but thin. Three companies rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, a! nd all 10 sectors in the S&P 500 ended higher.

"This is a very resilient market," said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners, a hedge fund in New York.

Markets have turned choppy in recent weeks as investors have weighed a host of concerns. At times, worries over global conflicts and Europe's economy have overshadowed signs of steady growth in the U.S. economy and rising corporate profits. Landesman pointed to plenty of reasons for traders to ditch stocks this summer, including high prices.

"We're getting through the summer and the market is still pretty close to its high," he said. "It shows you the trend is still upward."

Amazon, the online retail giant, unveiled a new payment system for mobile phones. The device, called Amazon Local Register, is aimed at helping small businesses accept payments through smartphones and tablets. Amazon's stock gained $6.96, or 2 percent, to $326.28.

The S&P 500 (^GPSC) rose 12.97 points, or 0.7! percent, to end at 1,946.72. The Dow (^DJI) gained 91.26 poin! ts, or 0..6 percent, to 16,651.80, the first time in August that the 30-stock average has been in positive territory for the year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) climbed 44.87 points, or 1 percent, to 4,434.13.

Of the handful of companies reporting quarterly results on Wednesday, a few well-known names warned of sliding sales and shrinking profits. Macy's (M) turned in results that fell short of Wall Street's forecasts. The department store chain also cut its full-year outlook for sales, saying it couldn't make up from a shortfall at the start of the year when winter storms kept shoppers at home. The company's stock dropped $3.29, or 6 percent, to $56.47.

Deere & Co. (DE), the country's largest maker of farm equipment, said weak sales will likely cut into its earnings for the entire year. Deere dropped $1.99, or 2 percent, to $84.49.

King Digital Entertainment (KING), maker of the "Candy Crush Saga" video game, plunged 23 percent. The co! mpany reported second-quarter sales that came up short of estimates and also cut its full-year earnings forecast. King's stock lost $4.21 to $13.99.

Despite some high-profile misses, however, overall corporate results for the second quarter have looked solid. With the earnings season drawing to a close, seven out of 10 companies in the S&P 500 have posted stronger profits than analysts projected, according to S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly earnings are on track to climb 10 percent over the year before. That's much better than the 3 percent increase companies reported for the first quarter of 2014.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that retail sales edged up by a tiny amount compared with the prior month. A separate report said businesses continued adding to their stockpiles in June. A greater amount of goods on store shelves and in warehouses reflects optimism about future demand.

In other trading, Germany's DAX gained 1.4 percent, while France's C! AC 40 rose 0.8 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 inched up 0.4 percent. All th! ree indexes have slumped more than 1 percent this month.

In the U.S. government bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was 2.42 percent, just shy of its low for the year and a drop from 2.45 percent late Tuesday. U.S. crude oil rose 22 cents to $97.59 a barrel in New York.

Elsewhere, gold rose $3.90 to $1,314.50 an ounce, silver slipped 6 cents to $19.85 an ounce and copper fell four cents to $3.11 a pound.

What to Watch Thursday:

• The Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, and import and export prices for July, both at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.
• Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates at 10 a.m.

These major companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial results:

• Advance Auto Parts (AAP)
• Agilent Technologies (A)
• Applied Materials (AMAT)
• Autodesk (ADSK)
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co. (HMHC)
• J.C. Penney Co. (JCP)
• Kohl's (KSS)
• Nordstrom (JWN)
• Perrigo Co. (PRGO)
• Walmart Stores (WMT)

• For many employers, open enrollment season for some benefits happens in October. This usually sneaks up on some people, who scramble to decipher benefits and make elections last minute. Although you won't be able to see the options until the enrollment period opens, take time now to review your benefits. Are you taking advantage of any 401(k) matches? Are your fully funding your Flexible Spending Account? What about employer offered life and disability insurance? (A fun infographic from the Council for Disability Awareness shows your risks). Maximize your benefits and don't leave any money on the table.
  ​1. Make the right choices at open enrollment
• Back-to-school time can be expensive if you're not prepared. Money is spent on clothes, books, supplies and technology -- and that's before the doors to the classroom have even opened. Before hitting the stores, do these two things:

  • Conduct an online search for "coupon code" along with the name of any store you'll be shopping at. Typically you can find some great online deals.
  • Get a list from you class or teacher of specific type of notebook, calculator, etc. required. If you can't get child's "must haves" from ahead of time, buy just the bare minimums until school starts and the list is available.
  2. Spend wisely on back-to-school items
• It's hard to think about the holidays when we're just making it through summer, but now is the time to build up a financial cushion. Set yourself up with an automatic transfer to a separate savings account and participate in the Holiday Fund Money Challenge to build up a savings of $450. How much do you need for the gifts, travel, parties, entertaining, food and other holiday activities you anticipate? Planning will help to ease the stress that comes around the holidays.
  ​3. Plan for the end-of-year holidays
• In lieu of scrambling at the end of the year to make contributions to retirement accounts by Dec. 31, double-check your contributions now and determine if there's room in your cash flow to allow for an increase to possibly max out by year end.
  ​4. Maximize your retirement funding
• Summer is a typically a time of transitions. There are weddings, moves to new homes, possibly a new family addition and more. If summer is the time when these events take place, fall should be the time to take stock of how they're panning out. If you're recently married and haven't already, now is the time to have the money talk with your spouse and make decisions about spending plans, merging (or not merging) accounts, beneficiary updates and more. If you've moved, check out how the new location has affected your cost of living spending in terms of activities, gas costs, groceries and more. Ultimately with any transition, you need to review your spending plan and determine what areas (if any) need to be adjusted.
  5. Consider your transitions
• If you're lucky enough to live in one of the states that actually experiences seasons, fall is the time to prep for energy savings by caulking and weatherstripping doors and windows, turning your thermostat back for a fixed period each day and insulating your attic, basement or outside walls.
  6. Weatherproof your home
• More from DailyFinance:

Source : http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/08/13/market-wrap-tech-health-sectors-send-stocks-higher/