US stocks rebound after early losses

NEW YORK: US stocks ended mixed on Thursday, recovering after poor
economic data in the US, Europe and China pushed markets to losses in
early trade.


Health care and utility stocks fared well while transportation was a significant loser, the sector falling by 2.6 percent.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 18.97 points (0.14 percent) at 13,596.93.


The S&P 500 lost 0.79 points (0.05 percent) at 1,460.26, while
the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 6.66 points (0.21 percent) to 3,175.96.



Earlier, Asian and European markets closed sharply
lower after poor readings of purchasing managers indexes showed
continued contractions in industrial activity in both areas.


Meanwhile, US data was mostly glum: an unimproved weekly jobless
claims figure, a slight fall in the Conference Board's leading economic
indicators index, and a continued negative reading in the Federal
Reserve's economic activity index for the Philadelphia region.


"What was strong during the early part of the economic recovery is
getting weaker now and what was weak is getting stronger," said Gary
Thayer of Wells Fargo Advisors.


JC Penney plunged 11.2 percent after the struggling retailer's
chief executive gave a warning that sales might continue to be weak for
the rest of the year.


Simon Property, the owner of hundreds of malls around the country,
fell 3.0 percent after missing forecasts despite a solid quarterly
earnings report.


ExxonMobil picked up 1.1 percent on news that it had bought
productive Bakken shale assets acreage in North Dakota and Montana for
US$1.6 billion in cash and asset swaps from Texas-based Denbury
Resources.


Bed Bath and Beyond shares dropped 9.8 percent after its
second-quarter earnings undershot analysts' forecasts. Earnings for the
quarter were US$224.3 million, 98 cents a share, compared with 93 cents
a share a year earlier.


News Corp shares edged 0.6 percent higher after Britain's media
watchdog decided to allow its 39 percent-owned subsidiary BSkyB to keep
its lucrative broadcast license in the wake of a phone-hacking scandal.


Apple meanwhile fell back below the US$700 line, slipping 0.5 percent to end at US$698.70. -- AFP