Morning Market Overview Nov 6

For Thursday, all 30 of its components finished in the green, with those companies at least somewhat exposed to consumer spending trends leading the tape. Credit card giant American Express climbed 1.78, or 5%, to 37.74, while Walt Disney tacked on 97 cents, or 3.5%, to 29. Filings for jobless benefits declined to their lowest level in 10 months last week ahead of a heavily watched October nonfarm payrolls report due Friday morning, helping stocks broadly. Consumer firms were also helped by a 1.8% gain for retail sales in October. Though that figure came in below expectations, some retailers did post margin improvements and lifted their third-quarter guidance. Gap was particularly strong, up 77 cents, or 3.5%, at 22.86, after forecasting a third-quarter profit above Street views. Among other indexes, the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 20.13, or 1.92%, to 1066.63, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 49.80, or 2.42%, to 2105.32. The Nasdaq also closed with its biggest point gain since July 15.

European shares closed with modest gains Thursday, boosted by corporate results as the Bank of England increased its bond-buying play by GBP25 billion, while joining the European Central Bank in holding official interest rates at record lows. After hitting an intraday low of 235.48, the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index rose 0.6% to close at 240.52. The index gained 1.8% Wednesday. On a regional level, the German DAX index gained 0.7% to settle at 5,480.92, the French CAC-40 index rose 1% to finish at 3,708.73 and the U.K. FTSE 100 index advanced 0.3% to end at 5,125.64. On the earnings front, shares of Deutsche Telekom advanced 2.3% after its third-quarter net income rose 7.2% to EUR959 million, beating analyst forecasts, after tight cost controls. It also stuck to its fiscal-year outlook. Telecom Italia shares rose 2.1% as the company reached a deal to sell its German broadband unit HanseNet to Telefonica for EUR900 million.

Most Asian markets retreated Thursday after authorities in several countries expressed concerns over the strength of the economic recovery.  Chinese stocks outperformed amid expectations of continued improvement in several economic data due to be released next week. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9%, taking gains into a fifth successive session. The advance helped to limit losses in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng Index slipped 0.6%. Japan's Nikkei 225 Average dropped 1.3%, Taiwan's Taiex fell 0.7%, and South Korea's Kospi shed 1.8%. Sanyo Electric plunged 20.4% to 172 yen after the Nikkei reported that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Daiwa Securities Group have decided to sell their stake in the company to Panasonic Corp for 131 yen, a sharp discount to Sanyo's Wednesday closing price of 216 yen.

Crude futures slipped Thursday as concerns about weak demand countered a big gains for U.S. equities. Light, sweet crude for December delivery settled 78 cents lower at $79.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures have held above $80 a barrel but, by early Thursday, the surprise draw in U.S. oil inventories that pushed prices above that level had come to be seen as at best sending a mixed signal about the state of global demand. Oil inventories fell by 3.9 million barrels. The decline came as refiners were cutting back on oil imports due to weak demand, meaning storage levels likely rose overseas even as U.S. stockpiles fell. Gold futures largely meandered sideways, consolidating the recent run to record highs with traders either turning cautious or lightening positions a day ahead of the always-important monthly U.S. employment report. In fact, gold and silver both posted inside days on a daily chart in which the highs and lows were within the prior day's trading range. December gold rose $2 to $1,089.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. December silver rose one-half cent to $17.41.