The market closed in red territory on Monday, with Healthcare stocks trading lower while Energy stocks stepped up. In mergers and acquisitions news, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to acquire e-commerce startup Jet.com for $3.3 billion. The deal includes $3 billion in cash and $300 million in shares to be paid over time. Trading closed slightly in the green zone on Tuesday. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed productivity dipped by 0.5% versus expectations of 0.5% growth. Additionally, West Texas Intermediate crude oil shed 0.6% today to settle at $42.77 a barrel. Indices were down on Wednesday as the Financial and Energy sectors led the S&P 500 lower. Meanwhile, crude traded lower on Energy Information Administration figures showing reserves increased by 1.1 million in the past week versus expectations of a decline of one million barrels. Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and NASDAQ ramped up to all-time record highs on Thursday. A jump in crude oil and positive retailer news propelled the session. West Texas Intermediate crude ticked up 4.08% today to settle at $43.41 a barrel. On another note, Labor Department data showed new claims fell by 1,000 to 266,000 versus expectations of a decline to 265,000. Trading ended with mixed moves on Friday as the Dow and S&P 500 shed some points while the NASDAQ reached a new all-time record high. Moves were mixed on a variety of economic news. Retail sales levels were unchanged in July. June’s increase was upwardly revised from 0.6% to 0.8%. Meanwhile, consumer confidence is up this month. In a preliminary reading for August, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index gained a 0.4 point, hitting 90.4. Looking elsewhere, producer prices retreated in July. The Producer Price Index for final demand dipped 0.4%. The core PPI, which excludes food and energy, was unchanged for the second straight month.
