Stocks end firmer but well off session highs following a late-day
pullback. Health care and some tech stocks were the day's laggards and
contributed to the trim for otherwise substantial gains today.
Stocks jumped out of the gate with Nasdaq Composite Index topping
2,000 and the S&P 500 trading just off the pivotal 1,000-threshold
-- both marking the best performance of the year. Investors reacted to
a string of positive earnings reports. A surprise drop in unemployment
claims and an indication that ongoing benefit collections are slowing
fueled the bullish fire.
Street-topping performance by Motorola (
) and and MasterCard
(
) combined with a Goldman Sachs upgrade of General Electric (
)
were interpreted as positive signs the economy is recovering. Insurance
broker AON Corp (
) and industrial conglomerate Tyco International
(
) were among companies reporting better-than-expected results
before the bell this morning.
General Electric (
), an industry bellwether, provided some lift
after Goldman Sachs upgraded its stock to Buy. Goldman noted House
Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank's comments in an
interview with Bloomberg late yesterday. Frank suggested that the spin
off of GE Capital would likely not be mandated by regulatory reform
proposals.
Economic data also helped to set the tone early.
The number of Americans continuing to collect unemployment benefits
unexpectedly fell last week to 6.2 million. Economists polled by
Thomson Reuters had expected that figure to rise to 6.3 million from
6.23 million last week.
Stocks are at their best levels of 2009 after pausing a rally
earlier in the week to contemplate economic and earnings strength. But
with a few exceptions, corporate announcements have continued to
surprise to the upside. A report showing a slowing rate for continuous
jobless benefits claims also lifted investor sentiment.
Crude oil rebounds from a drubbing Wednesday, putting up its best
one-day performance in more than three months. September futures close
up 5.6% to $66.92 a barrel.
NYSE up 103.75 (1.7%) to 6,384.32.
-DJIA up 83.7 (0.9%) to 9,154.
-S&P 500 up 11.6 (1.2%) to 986.75.
-Nasdaq up 16.5 (0.8%) to 1,984.
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Hang Seng up 0.49%
Nikkei up 0.51%
FTSE up 1.85%
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) GE gets analyst upgrade.
(+) CIT gets amended credit agreement.
(+) VRNM sees continued reaction to JV for cellulostic ethanol.
(+) MOT beats with Q2 earnings and guides above Street.
(+) HIG sees continued gain after earnings decline, but beat Street.
(+) MA beats with Q2.
(+) DOW swings to loss.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) AXL gets report waiver extension.
(-) XOM misses with results.
(-) AKAM down in continued reaction to evening earnings miss.
(-) SYMC down in continued reaction to evening earnings, guidance miss.
(-) LVLT reports loss, misses with sales.
