News from AAP

US stocks close mostly higher

Print This Post A A A

US stocks have ended mostly higher after the US House of Representatives approved a budget deal that would avert another government shutdown.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 15.93 (0.10 per cent) at 15,755.36 on Friday.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.18 (0.01 per cent) to 1,775.32, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.57 (0.06 per cent) to 4,000.98.

The House early on Thursday evening easily approved a bipartisan budget deal that would repeal some automatic spending cuts while trimming the budget deficit.

The deal must win Senate approval.

Still, investors remained cautious ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting, which could taper its aggressive bond-buying program, said David Levy, portfolio manager at Kenjol Capital Management.

The budget deal “could increase the likelihood of a taper,” Levy said.

Investors are in “wait and see mode,” he said.

Social network Twitter rose 6.6 per cent after RBC Capital Markets reiterated its “outperform” rating, citing a survey of advertisers who praised the company’s improvements in advertising platforms.

Dow component Visa rose 1.9 per cent after a federal judge approved a $US5.7 billion ($A6.41 billion) class-action settlement between merchants and credit card companies over credit card transaction fees.

MasterCard, which was also a party to the settlement, rose 0.7 per cent.

Oil and gas company Anadarko fell 6.4 per cent after a US bankruptcy judge said it could be liable for $US5.1 billion after concluding that a 2005 corporate reorganisation was a fraudulent attempt to evade environmental liability.

Anadarko vowed to appeal the ruling.

Online retailer Amazon rose 0.8 per cent after a report said it was working on a new consumer goods business that would compete with Walmart and Costco.

United Technologies fell 0.8 per cent after its 2014 forecast came in on the low end of expectations.

The company projected earnings of $US6.55-$US6.85 per share against analyst expectations of $US6.84.

Software company Adobe Systems shot up 12.8 per cent after earnings met expectations and revenues narrowly exceeded expectations of $US1.03 billion at $US1.04 billion.

The company reported a big increase in “Creative Cloud” subscriptions.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury dipped to 2.87 per cent from 2.88 per cent on Thursday, while the 30-year fell to 3.87 per cent from 3.90 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.