The markets opened the week with gains as both oil prices and Energy sector shares rose. Stocks traded lower on Tuesday with brands dipping on less-than-optimum quarterly details from Alcoa, who unofficially kicked off earnings season, as well as a downswing in oil. West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled at $50.84 a barrel. Indices closed out Wednesday with mixed results. The Dow and S&P 500 closed in the green while the NASDAQ ended in the red zone for the session. Moves were mixed amid the release of minutes from the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting as well as a dip in crude oil. The bulk of FOMC members voted to keep rates unchanged while three dissented. OPEC boosted output to 33.39 million barrels per day in September, up 220,000 barrels. West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled at $50.18 a barrel. Stocks rebounded up from early session levels to land just slightly lower on Thursday. Meanwhile, crude oil prices climbed despite a jump in reserves. Energy Information Administration data showed inventories rose by 4.9 million barrels in the past week. Department of Labor figures showed initial jobless claims held steady at 246,000 last week, versus expectations of 254,000 new claims. Indices ended the week in positive territory, as a rally among financial shares faded in the wake of stronger-than-expected quarterly results from the likes of Citigroup and Wells Fargo. In a preliminary measure, the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index slipped to 87.9 from 91.2 in September. Elsewhere, U.S. retail sales rose by 0.6% versus an expected increase of 0.7%. Excluding cars and energy, sales rose 0.3%, as anticipated.
