US equities were mixed and relatively flat on Thursday as investors digested weaker-than expected economic data and the Fed’s decision on Wednesday to begin tapering.  Utilities and Healthcare topped declines on the S&P 500, while Energy and Materials outperformed.  Gold is sharply lower while Crude Oil is higher for a fourth straight session. 

Today’s US economic news showed filings for state unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week according to the Labor Department, with Initial Claims increasing by 10K to a seasonally adjusted 379K, the highest level since March. 

In a separate report, the National Association of Realtors said sales of previously owned homes fell 4.3% last month to an annual rate of 4.90 million units. That was the lowest reading since December 2012 and was the third straight month of declines.  

Lastly, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its business activity index rose to 7.0 from 6.5 in November, but was short of the December’s 8.0 consensus estimate.    

Market Indices/Statistics:

• Dow closed up 11.11 pts/ +0.07% to 16,179.08; 12 of the 30 Dow stocks closed higher.
• S&P closed down 1.05 pts/ -0.06% to 1,809.60, 6 of the 10 S&P 500 sectors closed lower. 
• Nasdaq closed down 11.93 pts/ -0.29% to 4,058.13
• Materials were the strongest sector (+0.25%), Utilities were the weakest (-0.73%)
• The VIX is up 0.36 to 14.15
• Gold is down 46.0 to 1189.1
• Oil is up 0.66 to 98.73
• Nat Gas is up 0.191 to 4.450
• Yen vs. Dollar is down 0.06 to 104.21 
• Euro vs. Dollar is up 0.0026 to 1.3656
• The ICE Dollar Index (USDX) is up 0.04 to 80.63

Top Headlines:

Shares of Oracle Corp (NYSE: ORCL, $36.60) rose 5.78% in NY trading a day after the software maker posted fiscal-second-quarter results that exceeded expectations.  Oracle’s better-than-expected results and quarterly revenue outlook spurred hopes for investors that the software maker is on track to revive growth curtailed this year by slow IT spending. 

Accenture PLC (ACN, $79.51) posted a 7.6% rise in fiscal first-quarter profit as the consulting company recorded higher revenue amid stronger new bookings.  Accenture also raised its full-year earnings forecast and backed its full-year revenue guidance.  Shares of ACN finished 5.14% higher in active trading. 

No. 1 U.S. motor home maker Winnebago Industries Inc (NYSE: WGO, $27.32) reported a 51% jump in quarterly profit on Thursday as strong demand for its new line of lower-priced recreational vehicles prompted dealers to increase orders.  However, shares of WGO, which have more than doubled in value over the past year, fell 13.65%, pulled down by softer-than-expected sales.

AK Steel Holding Corp (NYSE: AKS, $7.29) jumped 15.35% after raising Q4 guidance well above Wall Street estimates.  the steel maker expects to report a profit in the fourth quarter, compared with analysts' estimates of a loss. The company also said it expects fourth-quarter shipments to be 13% higher than the previous quarter, reflecting its recovery from an unplanned blast furnace outage.