Stocks had a broad based advance based on increasing optimism about the US economy. Dow was up 190, advancers ahead of decliners better than 2-1 & NAZ was very strong, up 68. Averages closed at or near their highs with Dow breaking the important 13K level & S&P500 closing solidly above 1400. The breadth of the market was good, but still not as good as those days with ratios of 5+ to 1. Volume continues at so-so levels, today at 1.4B. The Kuwait Sovereign Fund (with a lot of oil money) gave a solid vote of confidence to the US economy by buying additional shares in Citigroup (C), up 1.04, & Merrill Lynch (MER), up 2.56. Also, little noticed, the Bank of England announced they felt the worst of the credit crisis was over. Banks (up 4%) & technology did quite well in today's broad based advance. This advance was fueled by investors taking money out of commodities to invest in stocks. Oil is back down to 112.52 (from 120 last week) while gold slipped to 850 (remember 1000?). The dollar has been very strong in the last couple of weeks, i.e. the Euro fell from a recent high of 1.60 to 1.54.
On the tech front, Research in Motion (RIMM), Apple (AAPL) & Google (GOOG) each had an excellent day. But after the close Sun (JAVA), 4th largest computer maker, reported a loss. They were up 67¢ during trading hours, but pulled back 1.77 after hours. Now that Dow & S&P500 reached important levels, bulls will have to decide if they can carry the averages higher or take time for a pause.
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