Stocks finished the day modestly higher on a fairly uneventful Thursday on Wall Street. The Dow closed higher by 58 points, or 0.44%. The Nasdaq rose by 8 points, and the S&P rose by 6 points. There were mixed economic reports, which provided little direction the overall markets throughout the trading session today. All of the major sectors closed higher on the day, though some were just barely higher.
There was one standout performer among the major sectors today, and it was the basic material sector. The basic materials sector was driven by buyout speculation today. The speculation is surrounding Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RTP), which is rumored to be the buyout target of a two-pronged bidder. BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE:BHP) and Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (NYSE:RIO) are said to be considering teaming up to buyout Rio Tinto. All three of these stocks closed much higher today as BHP gained 5.41%, RTP gained 5.50%, and RIO gained 3.87%. 
Gold stocks surged today as gold prices jumped to their highest levels in four months. The rise in the price of gold was primarily due to the lower U.S. dollar and strong demand for gold overseas. Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX) shares leapt by 8.38% on nearly triple their normal daily volume. Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE:GG) shares surged higher by 7.76% in response to the higher gold prices. Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM), and Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) also jumped by 4.28% and 5.84% respectively.
Some notable 52 week highs included Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG), Juniper Networks (NASDAQ:JNPR), and Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK).
Stocks were able to overcome the negative news on the mortgage front today. The Mortgage Bankers Association said in a report today that foreclosures and delinquenices are running at all-time record highs. Traders apparently felt like this news was expected as stocks largely brushed off this news.
On the positive side of the economic data, same store retail sales topped estimates for August on strong back to school sales. The retail sales numbers certainly helped the market as many market strategists expected poor back to school results.
The market will finish off the week tommorrow with a very important non-farm payrolls report tommorrow at 8:30 am. This report is certainly worth paying attention to as there are some concerns that employers are cutting back their hiring quite significantly.
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