Evening MoneyBeat: U.S. Stocks Rise Modestly, After Morning Burst

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U.S. Stocks Rise Modestly, After Morning Burst

By Paul Vigna

Welcome to Evening MoneyBeat, WSJ's closing-bell roundup of all the news and developments in the capital markets. To receive this newsletter, click here: http://on.wsj.com/MoneyBeatEveningSignup

Market Snap at Tue, 23 Aug 2016 16:31:31 -0400 ET

S&P 500 0.2%

↑ 2186.9

DJIA 0.1%

↑ 18547.3

Nasdaq Comp 0.3%

↑ 5260.08

U.S. 10 Year -1/32

↑ 1.547%

Crude Oil 1.16%

↑ $47.96

Gold -0.04%

↓ $1342.80

Yen/Dollar -0.1%

↓ $100.23

Euro/Dollar -0.09%

↓ $1.13

How We Got Here

A hot morning for U.S. stocks cooled off in the afternoon. In the end, the market remained rangebound, if somewhat a bit more jumpy.

Stocks rose in the morning, catching a tailwind from European stocks, which climbed after the latest round of PMI reports painted a better economic picture than expected. That sent the S&P 500 up close to a new intraday peak, and pushed the Nasdaq to a new intraday record. Both settled slightly under their respective record highs.

Oil markets surged midday after it emerged that Iran planned to attend next month's OPEC meeting, raising - once again - hopes that the cartel will take some kind of action to cut production and boost prices.

Best Buy investors went on a shopping spree, sending shares up as much as 19% after a surprisingly strong increase in second-quarter sales, bolstered by a big jump in online sales.

On the economic front, U.S. home sales rose 12% in July, hitting their highest level since October 2007, when housing was already coming down from its bubble-era peak.

Coming Up

Data Front: MBA Mortgage Applications (7:00 AM ET), FHFA House Price Index (9:00 AM ET), Existing Home Sales (10:00 AM ET), EIA Petroleum Status Report (10:30 AM ET).

Earnings: Express, Guess, HP, TiVo, Williams-Sonoma.

MoneyBeat Podcast

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In an encore presentation, the MoneyBeat crew examines how the commodities world impacts the economy just as much as our every day lives.

Tweet of the Day

Ludicrous Speed - $TSLA Model S P100D takes 2.5 seconds to go from 0-60. TSLA investors ovvereact in ludicrous 1.1 seconds. -- Douglas Kass @DougKass

Today's Video

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Startup Host Compliance helps cities with laws cracking down on short-term rentals like Airbnb. WSJ Housing Reporter Laura Kusisto joins Lunch Break to discuss.

Number of the Day

20,670 tons

With silver prices up 37% this year, holdings in silver ETFs have also been rising, this week reaching a record high of 20,760 tons.

Must Reads

U.S. Stocks Climb Broadly: U.S. stocks rose broadly. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3%, with materials shares leading gains across most major sectors.

Oil Prices Flip to Gains on Iran Reports: Oil prices jumped sharply higher late Tuesday morning after a news report that Iran may cooperate with other global exporters as they explore ways to keep oil prices from falling.

Disney and Vice, a Storybook Romance: The family-friendly entertainment conglomerate, worried about reaching young men in an era of cable-cutting, is betting big on the profane gonzo journalism of ex-punk rocker Shane Smith.

Companies Rethink Annual Pay Raises: For most of us, yearly pay raises are a fixture of corporate life, along with chatty co-workers and stale coffee. As companies shake up the way they measure and review employees, a handful of firms and pay experts are starting to question the practice of giving annual raises to almost all staffers.

Fine-Print Fortune: Searching for a Bonanza in Mortgage Bonds: Two former Goldman traders who bought and sold mortgage debt before the housing crisis are hoping to make a fortune off its rubble. They snapped up beaten-down mortgage bonds, wagering that unusual wording in their contracts would net them millions when a bank settlement paid out.

Too Much Tech? Latest Boom Reshapes San Francisco: The latest tech boom has brought an extraordinary burst of growth to San Francisco, but the boom is also challenging the city's economic diversity, giving it an enormous concentration in an industry that is particularly prone to economic swings.

Want to Book an Airbnb Stay? Not So Fast: Airbnb is shaking up the hospitality industry by helping turn people's homes into hotel rooms. Now it is facing turbulence of its own.

Silver's Still Got It: ETF Holdings Hit New High: The rally in gold and silver may have lost some of its shine lately, but investors are still eager to own the precious metals. Silver exchange-traded funds had their highest daily inflow since the beginning of July on Monday, according to Commerzbank, sending holdings to a record high of 20,670 tons.