U.S. Stocks Little Changed

Trading volume was light as many market participants were away ahead of the US Thanksgiving holiday.

“The market will be guided by the macro news of the day, notwithstanding the geopolitical concerns that remain elevated”, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in NY.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 1.2 points to 17813.

The University of Michigan’s final index on consumer sentiment for November also fell short of estimates.

At 3:28 p.m.in NY, the Dow Jones (INDEXDJX:.DJI) and the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) were each up 0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was 0.4% lower, but the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9%.

October U.S. personal spending rose 0.1 percent, while personal income rose 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of people who applied for US unemployment benefits (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/US-jobless-claims-drop-12000-to-260000-2015-11-25) fell by 12,000 to 260,000 in the week before Thanksgiving, indicating that the labor market is continuing its steady path to recovery. Durable goods orders rose a solid 3.0 per cent based on strong transportation orders.

The US stocks closed fractionally mixed after wavering in a tight range on Wednesday, as Wall Street digested an array of generally positive data.

The S&P 500 .SPX was up 0.5 points, or 0.02 percent, at 2,089.64, while the Nasdaq Composite index .IXIC was up 7.86 points, or 0.15 percent, at 5,110.67.

The tensions surrounding the Turkey military downing a Russian warplane on Tuesday subsided Wednesday, as there was very little risk aversion in the marketplace.

Consumer-discretionary stocks showed modest gains, up 0.5% as higher employment rates continued to translate into lackluster consumer spending. The uptick in the price of oil helped boost energy companies in the S&P 500, which rose 2.5%, by far the best performing sector in the index.

As usual, the eye-catching gains are to be found among the lesser-known names such as Computer Programs and Systems (NASDAQ:CPSI), which shot up by about one-sixth after it revealed it is to acquire Healthland Holdings for US$250mln.

Treasury yields backed off session highs, with the 2-year yield near 0.93 percent and the 10-year yield at 2.23 percent as of 10:06 a.m.

The U.S. dollar held more than half a percent higher near session highs, with the euro near $1.058 and the yen at 122.86 yen against the greenback.

In a sign of growing confidence that China’s stock markets are stabilizing, the securities regulator has lifted an order that required brokerages to buy more shares each day than they sell for proprietary trading.

The acquisition will strengthen the information technology company’s position in the healthcare information solutions market.