Another day, another lacklustre move: North American indexes essentially treaded water on Thursday, marking their fourth consecutive day without a move of more than 0.4 per cent, despite a busy backdrop to the day.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 12,890.46, up 6.51 points or less than 0.1 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 1351.95, up 1.99 points or 0.2 per cent. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 12,497.94, down 23.08 points or 0.2 per cent.
The slight moves come after Greek leaders agreed to austerity measures seen as necessary to qualify for another round of bailout money from the euro zone. European stocks were also fairly steady: Germany’s DAX index rose 0.6 per cent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3 per cent.
In the United States, the economy generated another upbeat development: Initial jobless claims for the period ended last week fell to 358,000 from 367,000. Economists had been expecting a gain in claims.
U.S. banks were mixed after five of them agreed to a $25-billion (U.S.) settlement with the U.S. government and 49 states to end a probe into abusive foreclosure practices. The settlement does not necessarily end their litigation risks though. Bank of America Corp. rose 0.6 per cent and JPMorgan Chase & Co. fell 1.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, Groupon Inc. fell 13.9 per cent after it released disappointing quarterly results on Wednesday after markets closed – the first quarterly report since the company went public.
Canada’s Manulife Financial Corp. fell 1.9 per cent after it reported a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss. However, it announced that its chief financial officer was leaving the insurer.
