4:20 pm : Finally, the wait is over, as the attraction of a psychologically important number such as 13,000 on the Dow helped underpin a bullish bias right out of the gate and well into the close. All three major indices finished just off their highs but averaged a one-day gain of roughly 1.0%.
While corporate profits continued to pour in better than analysts' lowered expectations, arming the bulls with enough momentum to power the Dow further into record territory, it is worth noting that news other than earnings also had a profound effect on the blue-chip index.
Alcoa (AA 35.76 +1.81) soared 5.3% after saying it will explore the possible sale of its packaging unit. Another example was IBM (IBM 101.46 +2.97), which nearly matched yesterday's surprise 3.4% surge following very upbeat buyback news.
Nonetheless, more evidence that Wall Street analysts were overly pessimistic going into the Q1 earnings season continued to provide a floor of support for stocks even though economic trends remain worrisome.
On the economic front, March durable goods rose a stronger than expected 3.4%, boosted significantly by aircraft orders which also helped Boeing (BA 94.69 +1.02) shareholders look past management's conservative guidance.
Even though the headline durable goods number combined with an upward revision to the February figure still doesn't wipe out the huge 8.8% drop in January, investors found solace in the fact that core capital equipment orders bounced back after two months of declines with a healthy 4.7% increase. Non-defense capital goods orders excluding transportation provide a clearer read on underlying business investment.
Investors were also eyeing the Fed's Beige Book to see what it may or may not say about the economy. However, after the report to be used at the May 9 FOMC meeting showed "modest or moderate" expansion, "only modest overall wage increases," and generally stable consumer prices, stocks caught another wave of buying interest.
A bidding war taking shape that is likely to result in the largest banking deal ever was also noteworthy. Brokerage stocks got a lift after a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland announced a $98 bln counterbid to Barclays' (BCS 58.47 +1.62) $91 bln offer for ABN Amro (ABN 49.77 +2.37) earlier in the week.
With the market already questioning whether gasoline supplies will be sufficient by the start of the summer driving season, an 11th straight weekly decline in inventories, and refinery utilization falling to 87.8%, boosting oil prices nearly 2.0%, still wasn't enough to deter investors. Crude for June delivery closed near $65.80/bbl. The Energy sector surged more than 2.0%, providing some influential leadership as the day's best performing sector.
Technology also provided notable leadership to the upside as investors scooped up bellwethers like Apple (AAPL 95.34 +2.10) and Qualcomm (QCOM 45.34 +0.98) in anticipation of more earnings surprises in the what is expected to be one of the largest contributors to profit growth on the S&P 500 this year.
Consumer Discretionary was another bright spot Wednesday, getting its biggest boost from Amazon.com (AMZN 56.81 +12.06), which soared 27% after management raised its full-year outlook and said Q1 profits more than doubled. DJ30 +135.95 NASDAQ +23.35 SP500 +15.01 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1251/1827/2.69 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 943/2329/1.67 bln
3:30 pm : All three major averages continue to sport sizable gains and are now up 1.0% each going into the close. The Dow is not only on pace to close well above 13,000 but is also on track to finish with its 17th gain in 19 sessions. It is also worth noting that above average volume lends even more conviction behind today’s widespread buying efforts.
The NYSE looks like more than 1.5 bln shares will exchange hands today while the Nasdaq surpassed 1.0 bln shares by 11:30 ET and is already above 2.0 shares. Sun Microsystems (SUNW 5.24 -0.70), the S&P 500’s worst performer (-12%), has seen 300 mln shares traded (nearly 5 times its average), while Amazon.com (AMZN 56.17 +11.42), the S&P 500’s best performer (+25%), has traded 13 times its average daily volume. DJ30 +140.02 NASDAQ +25.47 SP500 +15.52 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1159/1907/2.15 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 886/2349/1.30 bln
3:00 pm : Buying remains the name of the game heading into the final hour of trading. All 10 economic sectors are now in positive territory with oil prices recently closing near session highs helping to position Energy (+2.3%) as the day's biggest winner.
Equally as influential, since it carries more than double the weighting that Energy does, is Financials. The sector still lags its S&P 500 brethren as this year's worst performing sector; but an intraday gain now approaching 1.0% for the day lift's it further into positive territory for the year and acts as an integral floor of support behind today's broad-based rally. DJ30 +111.94 NASDAQ +24.58 SP500 +13.01 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1132/1882/2.05 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 922/2286/1.15 bln
2:30 pm : Onward and upward remains the driving mantra for stocks today as today's Beige Book did not upset the apple cart. At the top of the hour, the Fed showed that most of the 12 districts reported continuing tight labor conditions, with "only modest or moderate expansions in economic activity" and "only modest overall wage increases."
Several districts also noted some slowing in lending activity, while real estate continued to generally weaken; but a majority showed positive retail sales while consumer prices remained generally stable. DJ30 +97.31 NASDAQ +22.15 SP500 +12.01 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1184/1842/1.88 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 952/2256/1.05 bln
2:00 pm : Stocks continue to forge ahead as buyers remain in complete control of the action. Evidently, investors don't appear too concerned about what the Fed's Beige Book, which will be out momentarily, may or may not say about the economy.
The Beige Book is today's last scheduled economic report and will be used at the May 9 FOMC meeting to help policy makers formulate their views on business conditions compiled from the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks.DJ30 +80.03 NASDAQ +17.82 SP500 +10.25 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1277/1707/1.72 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1069/2131/952 mln
1:30 pm : A renewed wave of buying interest within the last 30 minutes has broken the major averages out of their relatively narrow trading ranges. More notably, though, is the fact that the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are rising in synch with each other and logging roughly the same percentage gains (+0.6%) on heavy volume, which suggests that program trading is behind the broad-based move to the upside.
As a reminder, April has been the best month for the Dow since 1950, averaging a 1.8% return, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac. This April, however, the Dow is up 5.5%; and with only three days remaining before April comes to a close, some end-of-the-month window dressing on the part of portfolio managers may also be contributing to the market's latest push to session highs. April also signals the end of what the Almanac has dubbed the "Best Six Months" strategy and sets the stage for investors to begin fretting about the two-decade old axiom "sell in May and go away." DJ30 +75.57 NASDAQ +16.00 SP500 +9.17 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1257/1675/1.56 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1119/2065/860 mln
1:00 pm : Range-bound trading persists as traders continue to make their way through the New York lunch hour. It is worth noting that oil prices have recently hit fresh session highs. Crude for June delivery is now 1.1% near $65.30/bbl. Fortunately for the bulls, though, Energy (+2.0%) subsequently climbing to its best levels of the session in sympathy is providing some influential leadership and acting as somewhat of an offset to the commodity's potential inflationary characteristics.
All of the sector's 33 components are trading sharply higher, led by a 5.3% surge in Baker Hughes (BHI 76.65 +3.85). However, a 1.6% advance in Exxon Mobil (XOM 79.84 +1.24), which played an integral part in the Dow's run from 12,000 to 13,000 with a 13% gain over the six-month period, is acting as an even larger source of sector support. DJ30 +63.87 NASDAQ +11.96 SP500 +7.60 XOI +2.0% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1257/1681/1.44 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1100/2078/800 mln
12:30 pm : No real change in the proceedings as the afternoon session gets underway. After running into some resistance right after the Dow eclipsed the 13,000 benchmark for the first time ever right out of the gate, buyers have returned in hopes of closing the blue-chip index above such a psychologically significant milestone.
Of the Dow's 30 components, 22 are currently trading higher and still being paced by Alcoa (AA 36.19 +2.24), which is closing in on multi-year highs with a 6.6% advance. Throw in impressive gains from the likes of APD (+3.8%), EMN (+2.5%), SEE (+4.4%), and PTV (+3.4%) and it's easy to see why Materials (+1.2%) is extending its year-to-date gain to more than 12% and ranks as today's second best performing sector. DJ30 +60.76 NASDAQ +12.18 SP500 +7.60 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1220/1683/1.31 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1068/2080/714 mln
12:00 pm : The major averages are trading near session highs midday as another round of better than expected earnings reports and encouraging economic data help the Dow stay above the psychologically important 13,000 level.
For the second day in a row, though, news other than earnings is having the most profound effect on the blue-chip index. Alcoa (AA 36.14 +2.19) is surging 6.5% and accounting for 18 Dow points after saying it will explore the possible sale of its packaging unit. IBM (IBM 99.61 +1.12) tacking a 1.2% advance onto yesterday's 3.4% surge is providing additional support.
Fellow Dow component Boeing (BA 93.90 +0.23) opened near a 52-week high after handily topping Wall Street expectations; but its full-year guidance being viewed by shareholders as too conservative has somewhat offset record plane orders that helped March durable goods orders rise a stronger than expected 3.4%.
Even though that headline durable goods read combined with an upward revision to the February figure still don't wipe out the huge 8.8% drop in January, which is why Friday's advance read on Q1 GDP is expected to be weak, investors have taken comfort in the fact that core capital equipment orders, which provides a clearer read on underlying business investment, bounced back after two months of declines with a healthy 4.7% increase.
The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is getting its biggest boost from Amazon.com (AMZN 54.98 +10.23), which after saying Q1 profits more than doubled and raising its full-year outlook last night, prompted several analysts to upgrade the stock. Not surprising, Amazon soaring 23% has earmarked Internet Retail as today's best performing S&P industry group (+14.0%).
Some M&A activity has also given investors something to cheer about. A bidding war for ABN Amro (ABN 49.38 +1.98) has ensued after a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland announced a $98 bln counterbid to Barclays' (BCS 58.21 +1.36) $91 bln offer for ABN earlier this week.DJ30 +68.40 NASDAQ +11.86 SP500 +8.07 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1289/1576/1.16 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1185/1918/616 mln
11:30 am : The market continues to retrace its opening highs, as reflected in the Dow revisiting its 13,000 benchmark, as buying remains widespread across most areas. Health Care (-0.2%), however, is failing to participate in today's broad-based move to the upside.
That's not such a bad thing for the bulls, though, since the sector is up more than 8% year to date in part due to its defensive characteristics. Managed Health (-2.5%) is the day's worst performing S&P industry group after WellPoint (WLP 79.03 -3.21) followed up its in-line Q1 report by projecting higher medical costs for the remainder of the year. DJ30 +50.56 NASDAQ +7.43 SP500 +5.71 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1248/1565/1.0 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1154/1911/518 mln
11:00 am : Equities are bouncing off their morning lows as sellers' recent efforts to lock in profits don't amount to much. Technology and Industrials climbing back into positive territory return some influential leadership. Both combine to account for more than 25% of the total weighting on the S&P 500.
Energy (+1.2%), though, continues to provide the bulk of early support. Crude for June delivery is up 0.9% near $65.20/bbl after a report showed that gasoline supplies fell for an 11th straight week and refinery utilization actually fell 2.6% to 87.8%. ..OSX +2.2%. ..OIH +1.9%.DJ30 +36.99 NASDAQ +4.78 SP500 +4.42 XOI +1.0% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1288/1474/808 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1182/1829/394 mln
10:30 am : The major averages have spiked lower since the last update as a reversal in Technology briefly pushes the Nasdaq into negative territory. Sun Microsystems (SUNW 5.34 -0.60) is the sector's worst performer, plunging nearly 10% after issuing a weak sales outlook. SCI-Sanmina (SANM 3.55 -0.22) is tumbling following an earnings shortfall and downside EPS guidance.
Industrials has also taken a turn for the worse as Boeing (BA 92.90 -0.77) relinquishes all of its early gains. Railroads, which are now among today's ten worst performing groups, are also weighing on the sector after Norfolk Southern (NSC 54.59 -0.98) posted a 7% drop in Q1 earnings. Separately, new homes sales rose 2.6% in March to 858K (consensus 890K) following two months of declines; but the weaker than expected sales pace hasn't exactly convinced investors that the housing market has found a bottom. DJ30 +27.22 DJTA +1.2% NASDAQ +1.35 SP500 +2.89 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1295/1348/600 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 986/1920/262 mln
10:00 am : The indices are off their opening highs but still holding on to respectable gains. Of the nine economic sectors trading higher, Materials (+1.1%) is pacing the way following reports that Alcoa (AA 35.82 +1.87) is exploring a possible sale of its packaging unit. Energy ranks second with an intraday gain of 0.8% as oil prices climb back above $65/bbl ahead of the Energy Dept.'s weekly oil report (10:30 ET). Oil & Gas Equipment group (+1.7%) is getting an added lift after Baker Hughes (BHI 75.04 +2.24) beat analysts' forecasts.
The return of leadership from Financials (+0.6%) is also noteworthy. Brokerage stocks are bouncing back as a bidding war for ABN Amro (ABN 49.78 +2.38) ensues. A consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland has announced a $98 bln counterbid to Barclays' (BCS 58.49 +1.64) $91 bln offer earlier in the week. Sector strength has also come from Property & Casualty Insurance (+1.4%), as XL Capital (XL 79.50 +5.74) climbs 8% to all-time highs after beating expectations with record Q1 profits. Life Insurers are also catching a bid as AFLAC (AFL 52.20 +2.98) also surges to record levels after posting an Q1 earnings surprise. DJ30 +52.49 NASDAQ +7.14 SP500 +6.15 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 893/1569/284 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 638/2026/94 mln
09:40 am : Stocks open sharply higher as investors rallying around another batch of better than expected earnings reports and encouraging economic data finally lift the Dow above the psychologically important 13,000 level. Boeing (BA 94.60 +0.93) opening near a 52-week high after handily topping Wall Street expectations is among 24 Dow components trading higher and providing a notable lift early on.
March durable goods rising a stronger than expected 3.4%, boosted significantly by aircraft orders, is also helping Boeing shareholders look past management's conservative guidance. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is getting a huge lift from Amazon.com (AMZN 53.74, +8.99), which said Q1 profits more than doubled and boosted its full-year outlook, prompting multiple analyst upgrades. Not surprising, Amazon soaring 20% has earmarked Internet Retail as today's best performing S&P industry group (+12.6%).DJ30 +54.37 NASDAQ +7.76 SP500 +6.53 NASDAQ Vol 100 mln NYSE Vol 56 mln
09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +6.2. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +5.8.
09:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +6.5. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.8. The stage remains set for stocks to open on a strong note as futures hold steady above fair value. With the market rightfully concerned about capital investment, which is expected to be a negative factor in Friday's advance read on Q1 GDP, and worries about the underlying pace of economic activity in general, investors continue to find some comfort in today's durable orders data.
Meanwhile, earnings continue to pour in better than analysts' lowered expectations, potentially arming the bulls with enough momentum to power the Dow past 13,000; but another housing update in the form of new home sales awaits investors at 10:00 ET.
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