Midnight Trader | Jan 09, 2013 04:33PM ET
U.S. stocks ended Wednesday's session in positive territory, boosted by the latest earnings release from blue chip bellwether Alcoa (AIG ) said it will not join a lawsuit against the U.S. government, according to a statement. The lawsuit, brought on by the company's former CEO Hank Greenberg alleges that the terms in the bailout, which the company received from the U.S. government, were unfair. AIG's Board of Directors decided against the suit after a meeting.
With little economic data on tap, traders believe that the majority of the market's momentum will be dictated by corporate earnings, which are just starting to trickle in. Next week ushers in more earnings reports with market-moving potential.
In commodities, crude oil slipped $0.05 to settle at $93.10 a barrel after the U.S. Department of Energy announced that U.S. crude inventories rose by less than analysts' were expecting. The latest data showed crude oil stockpiles rose by 1.3 million barrels last week to 361.3 million barrels, compared to the 2.2-million-barrel increase analysts had, on average, forecast. After hours Tuesday, The American Petroleum Institute reported a 2.4-million-barrel increase.
Gold futures ended down 0.43% at $1,655.50 an ounce on the COMEX Wednesday as investors grew more interested in investing in equities and the U.S. dollar, at the expense of safe-haven gold.
Here's Where The Markets Stood At Day's End
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