Wall Street ends mostly higher for first session in three

US stock indices closed the third session of the week mixed but mostly higher, with the tech sector leading the charge on short-covering after sustaining heavy losses recently, while oil prices rebounded after marking the worst performance yesterday in three years, underpinning energy stocks for the day. 

Wall Street will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday before a short trading session on Friday, while earlier data today showed a steep drop in durable goods orders last month, the fastest such decline since July 2017. 

Unemployment claims rose unexpectedly while the final UoM consumer sentiment survey slipped below estimates, as existing home sales rose past expectations. 

Indices, Commodities 

Dow Jones closed down 0.95 points at 24,464.69, while S&P 500 rose 0.30%, or 8.04 points to 2,649.93. NASDAQ Composite surged 0.92%, or 63.43 points to 6,972.25. 

Gold futures due in December rose 0.43% to $1,226.50 an ounce, marking November 7 highs, while the dollar index slipped 0.12% to 96.72 away from early 2017 highs. 

US crude futures due in January rallied 1.97% to $54.48 a barrel away from October 27 lows, while Brent January futures powered up 1.34% to $63.37 a barrel away from December 7 lows.