Ahead of iPhone Release, Stocks Close Higher

A day before Apple AAPL unveils the iPhone 5, the latest version of the wildly popular smartphone, U.S. equities closed modestly higher. The S&P 500 added almost 4.5 points, or 0.3 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite was little changed with a gain of half a point. By comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average impressed with a gain of half a percent to close near a five-year high. Twenty-four of the Dow's 30 components closed higher, led by a 5.2 percent surge for Bank of America BAC. The Dow's biggest loser was Kraft KFT with a drop of almost 1.1 percent. Apple closed lower by 0.3 percent and is now down almost two percent in the last five sessions. Other high-flying tech names such as Amazon AMZN and Google GOOG also closed modestly lower on the session. The luxury retail space was in focus after U.K-based Burberry BURBY issued a profit warning that triggered an 18.2 percent sell-off in the shares. Burberry's news weighed on U.S.-based luxury goods firms as Coach COH, Michael Kors KORS and Tiffany all closed in the red. In earnings news, shares of retailer Five Below FIVE slipped 3.6 percent after the company said its second-quarter loss widened to $64.2 million, or $3.41 per share, from $1.7 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 43% to $86.8 million. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 4 cents a share. Analysts expected a profit of a penny per share on revenue of $82.1 million. Shares of Shuffle Master SHFL gave up 4.7 percent after the company posted a fiscal third-quarter profit of $10.4 million, or 18 cents per share, from $9.1 million, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue increased to $63.4 million from $58.3 million. Analysts expected a profit of 20 cents per share and $68.3 million in revenue. In addition to the debut of the iPhone 5, Wednesday will bring a ruling from Germany's Federal Constitutional Court on the country's ability to approve the $640 billion European Stability Mechanism. The Federal Open Market Committee also commences a two-day meeting on Wednesday. Oil futures rose for the fifth consecutive day and gold gained for the third day in four on speculation the Fed will unveil another round of quantitative easing. That speculation plagued the U.S. dollar as the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish UUP, an ETF that tracks the Dollar Index, fell by almost 0.8 percent on above average turnover.