U.S. AVERAGES
Market held in the green as positive housing data helped shrug off volatile oil prices and a disappointing report on durable orders.
Oil prices have been volatile on worries that another tropical storm may hit oil supplies.
Tech stocks have recently shown strength, bolstered by the semis and hardware sectors.
The housing sector was up 2.6%. Energy stocks are also among the advancers, benefiting from the rosy oil inventory report. The oil service sector is now up 1.4%, hitting a fresh high for the day.
The gold sector is down 1.4% to its lowest level in more than 2 weeks. The airline sector recovered from its intra-day lows and is now off about 1%.
Google shares (
GOOG: chart) added 1.3% as the Internet search engine confirmed the launch of Google Talk, a downloadable Windows instant-messaging service early Wednesday. The company said the service would require a ""Gmail"" e-mail account.
Autodesk (
ADSK: chart) hit a new 52-week high, while
Edison International (
EIX: chart) has extended its gains after Lehman Brothers lifted its rating.
Blyth (
BTH: chart) plummeted to a new 52-week low on worse-than-expected earnings and disappointing guidance, while
Rambus (
RMBS: chart) continued its downward movement from the recent months to record a new low.
Baidu.com fell about 5% Wednesday despite saying it sees sales to rising to $10 million in 3Q.
Applebee's International shares lost 6.3% after the nationwide restaurant chain lowered its earnings forecast for 3Q and 2005 as same-store sales growth slowed in August.
The cable company
Charter Communications soared 27% after announcing it plans to exchange up to $8.4 billion in debt.
Data-management software provider
Versant sank 5.2% after tumbling almost 50% in pre-market trading. The company's shareholders approved a 1-for-10 reverse stock split, effective Wednesday. Following the reverse split, there will be about 3.56 million shares outstanding.
SeaChange International lost 17% after slashing its revenue outlook and posting a 2Q loss as revenue fell 39%.
ECONOMIC NEWS
U.S. durable goods orders plummeted 4.9% in July, the first decline in four months, according to the Commerce Department report Wednesday morning. Economists had forecasted orders to decline 1.5% in July. Durable orders in June were downwardly revised to a 1.9% rise from a 2.8% increase previously expected.
Sales of new U.S. homes rose 6.5% in July to a record seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.41 million, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Economists had been looking for sales to decline slightly to a 1.33 million pace in July.
Crude oil inventories climbed 1.8 million barrels vs. the previous week, beating forecasts for a decline of 100,000 barrels last week. At 322.9 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are above the upper end of the average range for this time of year.
Total motor
gasoline inventories declined by 3.2 million barrels last week, the bottom end of the average range. Analysts expected gasoline inventories to drop 1.1 million barrels, for the eighth week in a row on demand.
INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS 
