Stocks end flat as oil hits $50, Dow slips a tad

Stocks ended around the flatline Thursday with the Dow failing to build upon its best two-day point gain since early March as investors digested the news of oil prices topping $50 per barrel for the first time since October and more data showing the U.S. economy is attempting to recover from a weak start to 2016.

The Dow Jones industrial average, which has rallied nearly 360 points the past two days, ended down a scant 23 points, or 0.1%. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 stock index was fractionally negative and the technology-dominated Nasdaq composite bumped up 0.1%.

Wall Street digested a raft of economic news, all which came in better than expected and points to an economy that is not in as bad shape as feared, and which might even be getting better faster than expected. In addition to U.S.-produced crude trading above the $50 per barrel mark for the first time in more than seven months, fresh data on employment and spending on big-ticket, long-lasting items also came in much better than expected.

Economy: Durable goods orders jump, jobless claims dip

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped 10,000 in the last week to 268,000. And sales of durable goods, driven in large part by sizable orders for commercial jets, soared 3.4% in April, surpassing estimates by a wide margin.

While the economic news is positive, it also has Wall Street thinking that it gives the Federal Reserve more reason to hike interest rates at its meeting next month, which appears to be capping gains in the stock market after a strong two-day rally.

"In sum, there is nothing here (in today's data) that argues for the Fed to alter their gradual pace of rate hikes," Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank, told USA TODAY via e-mail.

The big news, of course, is the rebound in prices of U.S.-produced crude, which got a lift from data released Wednesday that showed U.S. oil stockpiles fell by a wider margin than expected. U.S.  benchmark crude rose as high $50.21 a barrel in morning trading, topping the $50 mark for the first time since October. Oil retreated later in the session and was trading 5 cents lower to $49.51 a barrel.

U.S. benchmark crude oil tops $50 a barrel for the first time since October

Oil initially got a lift from a sharp 0.4% drop in the value of the U.S. dollar vs. a basket of foreign currencies. A weaker dollar is positive for crude as oil is priced in dollars.

West Texas intermediate crude is still down 66% from its record closing high of $145.31 a barrel on July 3, 2008, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

Stocks were mixed in Europe. The broad Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.1% and Germany's DAX index was 0.7% higher and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7%.