LONDON (ShareCast) - - Stocks rise on stimulus bets
- Goldman, IBM weigh on Dow
- Markets weigh impact of government shutdown

Dow Jones: -0.01%
Nasdaq: 0.62%
S&P 500: 0.67%

US stocks closed broadly higher on Thursday with the S&P 500 hitting a record high, although the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished flat after some disappointing blue-chip earnings.

Heavyweights Goldman Sachs and International Business Machines (IBM) both fell sharply after failing to meet forecasts with their third-quarter results.

While earnings season got into in full swing, investors were still digesting Wednesday's last-minute deal by lawmakers to extend the debt ceiling and reopen the government, and considering what this means for the economic outlook.

Standard & Poor's has already estimated that the closure has already cost the US economy $24bn in lost activity, which will have a 0.6% adverse impact on growth in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Chinese ratings agency Dagong on Thursday downgraded its rating for US sovereign debt from ‘A’ to ‘A-’, keeping a negative outlook.

However, on a positive note, the shutdown has spurred speculation that the Federal Reserve will delay tapering its quantitative easing programme until later in the year or possibly into 2014, which could provide some support to equity prices in the near term.

Alex Young, Senior Sales Trader at CMC Markets, said that the sell-off in the dollar on Thursday - falling 1% to $1.3677 per euro - hinted at the market's view on Fed tapering. He said that tapering "must surely now be pushed back well into 2014 given that we are very much in the dark as to the real effect on US growth of the shutdown until the government data departments are back up and running".

Goldman, IBM provide a drag on Dow

Shares in investment banking giant Goldman Sachs took a big hit despite an increase in the dividend and a better-than-expected profit after the company announced a sharp decline in third-quarter revenues. At $6.72bn, revenue for the period fell 20% compared to a year earlier and 22% against the previous quarter. Analyst estimates had averaged $7.35bn.

Technology giant IBM fell sharply after revealing after the market close on Wednesday that third-quarter revenues fell $1bn (-4%) to to $23.7bn, below forecasts for a small increase.

American Express surged to its highest ever level after third-quarter net income rose 9% to $1.4bn, ahead of consensus forecasts, helped by "stronger card member spending across all regions".

Precious metal miners Newmont Mining and Randgold were high risers after the the price of gold gained the most in four weeks on speculation over the Fed.

Coal producer Peabody Energy meanwhile rose strongly after earnings for the second quarter came in at the high-end of its guidance range.


S&P 500 - Risers
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $68.50 +8.83%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $19.14 +6.04%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $47.84 +5.65%
American Express Co. (AXP) $80.23 +5.12%
PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) $174.47 +4.96%
Danaher Corp. (DHR) $72.31 +4.57%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $27.06 +4.56%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $35.36 +4.43%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $16.66 +4.00%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $18.58 +3.86%

S&P 500 - Fallers
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $174.83 -6.37%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $71.37 -5.08%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $51.38 -4.00%
Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) $151.16 -3.82%
CIGNA Corp. (CI) $77.48 -3.72%
Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (HCBK) $9.15 -3.53%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $45.39 -3.28%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $78.54 -3.17%
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (SWK) $74.37 -3.10%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $36.34 -3.02%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
American Express Co. (AXP) $80.23 +5.12%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $48.90 +3.49%
Boeing Co. (BA) $122.29 +1.62%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $30.26 +1.54%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $108.02 +1.49%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $38.55 +1.45%
3M Co. (MMM) $122.62 +1.39%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $79.42 +1.38%
Visa Inc. (V) $198.28 +1.35%
General Electric Co. (GE) $24.68 +1.31%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $174.83 -6.37%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $158.32 -2.42%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $22.78 -0.93%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $85.85 -0.49%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $47.11 -0.13%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $86.02 -0.07%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $68.50 +8.83%
Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $72.07 +3.70%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $84.17 +3.26%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $32.29 +2.72%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $37.08 +2.70%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $67.36 +2.60%
Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) $247.10 +2.46%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $153.83 +2.42%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $135.19 +2.28%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $330.10 +2.24%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) $62.17 -7.13%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $51.38 -4.00%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $45.39 -3.28%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $85.92 -2.95%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $32.74 -1.04%
Google Inc. (GOOG) $888.79 -1.03%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $29.65 -0.95%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $137.71 -0.94%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $22.78 -0.93%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $40.41 -0.91%

BC

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