Wednesday Closing Bell: Markets Follow Rising Oil and Gas Stocks Higher

August 28, 2013: U.S. markets opened mixed Wednesday morning as the potential for a military conflict in Syria dominated the news. Crude oil prices spiked overnight and there were other setbacks as well, like another dive by the Indian rupee. Applications for mortgages fell again as interest rates continued their climb and U.S. crude oil inventories did not rise enough to slow the rise in crude prices. WTI closed up 1% today at $110.10 a barrel, its highest close in more than two years.

European and Latin American markets closed mixed today, while Asian markets closed lower.

Thursday’s calendar includes a speech by Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard plus the following data releases and events:

• 8:30 a.m. – U.S. GDP
• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
• 1:00 p.m. – 7-year note auction
• 4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

We also broke out the top Wall Street calls with analyst upgrades and analyst downgrades.

Here are the closing bell levels for Wednesday:

• S&P500 1,634.96 (+4.48; +0.27%)
• DJIA 14,824.51 (+48.38; +0.33%)
• NASDAQ 3,593.35 (+14.83; +0.41%)
• 10YR TNOTE 2.779% (-0.5625%)
• Gold $1,418.80 (-1.40; -0.1%)
• Euro/Dollar: 1.3371 (-0.0052; -0.38%)

Big earnings movers: Tivo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) is up 5.6% at $11.58 following an earnings beat and improved guidance. Specialty retailer Express Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPR) is up 6.5% at $21.09 following results that met expectations (a rarity in retailing this quarter). Joy Global Inc. (NYSE: JOY) is down 4.7% at $48.89 after the mining equipment maker reported inline earnings and maintained a soft forecast. Zale Corp. (NYSE: ZLC) is up 29.8% at $11.63 after beating estimates and setting a new high of $11.69.

Stocks on the move: Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTX) is up 24.5% at $6.82 after posting a new 52-week high of $6.99 following positive results of leukemia drug trial.

In all, 26 stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 61 stocks posted new lows.