U.S. Stocks Fluctuate as Energy Producers, Banks Advance

 U.S. stocks fluctuated as a bigger- than-forecast decrease in jobless claims and a rally in oil prices offset concerns about Ireland’s debt load and China’s steps to quell inflation.

Chevron Corp. gained 1 percent, the biggest advance in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as oil prices climbed following an Energy Department report showing an unexpected decreased in crude stockpiles. Boeing Co. slid 3.3 percent after a blaze broke out during a test of the 787 Dreamliner, forcing it to make an emergency landing. Invesco Ltd. sank 4.3 percent after Morgan Stanley said it will sell its $717 million stake in the investment management company.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.1 percent to 1,212.39 at 12:13 p.m. in New York, paring declines of as much as 0.8 percent. The Dow average lost 0.2 percent to 11,322.64. Benchmark indexes reached two-yeah highs last week after the Federal Reserve expanded its program of asset purchases to stimulate growth, a tactic known as quantitative easing.

“The market is taking a breather as we need to see more fundamental economic advances before we can continue the gains,” said Eric Teal, chief investment officer at First Citizens Bancshares Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina, which manages $5 billion. “Quantitative easing has been priced in, the sovereign debt crisis is a long-term problem which resurfaces, and the soft landing of the Chinese economy will be tricky to maintain going forward.”

Irish Bonds

Irish 10-year bonds tumbled for a 12th day, the longest slump since at least 2007. Irish debt has plunged on concern that the cost of bailing out the nation’s banks has made the government debt load unsustainable.

China’s central bank raised lenders’ reserve requirements as cash from October’s larger-than-forecast $27.1 billion trade surplus threatened to add to the risk of asset bubbles and accelerating inflation.

Stock futures erased losses after the Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits decreased to 435,000 last week from 459,000, the lowest level in four months. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast claims would decline to 450,000.

“We’re seeing some positive jobs numbers,” said Thomas Nyheim, a Greenville, Delaware-based portfolio manager for Christiana Bank & Trust Co., which oversees $6.8 billion. “For a sound economic recovery, you need growth in gross domestic product, a stock market doing reasonably well and job creation. That third part has been the problem, but we’re getting a minimal growth trendline.”

Trade Gap Shrinks

Separate data from the Commerce Department showed the U.S. trade deficit shrank to $44 billion in September from a revised $46.5 billion in August, as a weaker dollar pushed exports to the highest in two years. The gap was smaller than the median estimate of economists surveyed that called for a shortfall of $45 billion. Exports rose 0.3 percent on foreign demand for aircraft, generators and foods, while imports fell.

Boeing declined 3.3 percent to $66.98. A 787 Dreamliner had to stage an emergency landing in Texas, following a fire that knocked out some of the all-electric jet’s systems during its test flight, a person with knowledge of the matter said.