Shares in YRC Worldwide continued their upward momentum Thursday, gaining 12 cents. The stock closed at $4.06.
The Overland Park trucking company has restructured its finances in recent months in an effort to avoid possible bankruptcy, and shareholders lately have been more encouraged that the moves will pay off.
YRC was the most notable gainer Thursday. Layne gained 11 cents to close at $34.24, and Capitol Federal gained 13 cents to $34.
Most regional stocks closed lower after posting gains earlier in the week.
It was that type of day in the stock market, where stocks posted modest losses in quiet trading.
Traders found little in the weekly employment data, or in reports on housing and manufacturing, to provide new insight into the economy. Stocks surrendered early gains around midday and the Dow Jones industrial average ended with a loss of 8 points.
The stock market has risen in eight of the past 10 days and expectations for a recovery have propelled the Standard & Poor’s 500 index up 57.5 percent from a 12-year low in early March. The pace of the gains has brought warnings from analysts that stocks have gone too far, too fast.
“This market has become kind of saturated with good news,” said Jeff Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial.
The Labor Department said workers filing for jobless claims for the first time dipped to 545,000 last week from an upwardly revised 557,000 the previous week. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting claims to rise.
It was the lowest level of new claims since early July, indicating job cuts could be easing. However, those continuing to file for claims increased to 6.2 million, slightly above analysts’ forecasts. Many economists consider unemployment to be the biggest obstacle to a rebound in the economy, and the labor market is a major focus for stock investors.
Separately, the Commerce Department said housing starts increased in August to their highest level in nine months amid a jump in apartment building. Housing starts rose 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 598,000 units last month, just below the pace economists had forecast.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 7.79 points, or 0.08 percent, and closed at 9,783.92.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 3.27 points, or 0.31 percent, and closed at 1,065.49.
The Nasdaq composite index dropped 6.40 points, or 0.30 percent, and closed at 2,126.75.
An early reading of the KansasCity.com index of 145 regional companies showed a drop of 1.64 points, or 0.25 percent, at 660.02.
Among Kansas City area companies of interest:
I Cerner Corp. closed at $68.62, down 26 cents.
I Capitol Federal Financial closed at $34.00, up 13 cents.
I Commerce Bancshares Inc. closed at $37.65, down 51 cents.
I DST Systems Inc. closed at $47.12, down 19 cents.
I Garmin Ltd. closed at $36.82, down 41 cents.
I Great Plains Energy closed at $17.97, down 6 cents.
I H&R Block Inc. closed at $17.53, down 11 cents.
I Kansas City Southern closed at $28.11, down 54 cents.
I Sprint Nextel Corp. closed at $3.90, down 8 cents.
I UMB Financial Corp. closed at $40.48, down 12 cents.
I Waddell & Reed Financial Corp. closed at $27.41, down 38 cents.
I YRC Worldwide Inc. closed at $4.06, up 12 cents.
The Closing Bell is compiled from staff and wire reports by Steve Rosen. Call him at 816-234-4879 or send e-mail to srosen@kcstar.com. A recap of the day’s markets activity is available in the Business section of The Kansas City Star.
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