Stocks rallied Thursday, finding momentum after a week of choppy trading, as investors scooped up a variety of shares hit in the recent selloff — including commodity, consumer, homebuilding and tech issues.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 172 points, or 2.1%. The Dow rose as much as 190 points earlier in the afternoon.
The S&P 500 (SPX) index gained 19 points, or 2.1%, and the Nasdaq (COMP) added 37 points, or 2.1%.
Stocks have dipped over the last week as the more than 3-month old rally lost steam. But that selloff seemed to draw new buyers Thursday, thanks in part to strong demand for Treasury’s $27 billion 7-year note auction, which sent bond yields lower. A rally in commodities and some end-of-quarter buying also helped.
“Having been down for over a week and giving back more than 5% of the move, with the end of the quarter approaching, people are stepping in,” said Ted Weisberg, NYSE floor trader at Seaport Securities.
Stocks were mixed Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept short-term rates near zero and said the pace of the recession is slowing, but didn’t say much else.
In particular, investors may have been looking for the central bank to announce an expansion of a program meant to keep spiking bond yields in check. Worries that rising bond yields — tied to mortgage rates — could derail a recovery has put some caution into the stock market after a 3-month rally that lifted the S&P 500 index 40% off of 12-year lows.
May personal income and spending reports are due in the morning from the Commerce Department, before the start of trading. The revised reading on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan is also due, but it’s not usually a market mover.
Ben Bernanke: The Federal Reserve Chairman told a House committee that he did not pressure Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) CEO Ken Lewis to complete his firm’s purchase of Merrill Lynch, as Lewis testified two weeks ago. Bernanke also denied having asked former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to act on his behalf.
Company news: Gains were broad based Thursday, with 29 out of 30 Dow issues rising, led by IBM (IBM, Fortune 500), Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), United Technologies (UTX, Fortune 500) and oil components Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500).
Dow component Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) was unchanged as the hearing about its purchase of Merrill Lynch created some investor concern.
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY, Fortune 500) reported higher quarterly earnings late Wednesday that topped expectations, as cost cutting countered the impact of slowing demand. Shares gained 9.5% in active Nasdaq trading Thursday.
A number of other retailers rose too, including Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500) and Lowe’s (LOW, Fortune 500).
Homebuilder Lennar (LEN) reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss versus a year ago and a smaller-than-expected drop in revenue. However, the company reported a rise in new home sales and orders versus the first quarter, sending its shares up 17.5%.
Toll Brothers (TOL), Centex (CTX, Fortune 500) and KB Home (KBH) were among the other gainers in the sector.
Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers by four to one on volume of 1.23 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners four to one on volume of 2.27 billion shares.
Economy: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment rose 15,000 to 627,000 last week, surprising economists who thought claims would fall to 600,000.
Continuing claims, a measure of Americans receiving benefits for a week or more, rose to 6,738,000, after dropping in the previous week.
Another government report showed the first-quarter gross domestic product growth shrank at a slower pace than initially thought. GDP shrank at an annual rate of 5.5% versus the initially reported 5.7% decline. Economists expected no change.
Bonds: Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.54% from 3.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Other markets: In global trade, Asian markets ended higher and European markets ended lower.
U.S. light crude oil for August delivery rose $1.56 to settle at $70.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
COMEX gold for August delivery rose $5.10 to settle at $939.50 an ounce.
In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and fell against the yen.
Tags: cosumers, investor market, stock bounce, USA, wall street
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Recommended websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Recommended websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Recommended websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]…
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Recommended websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned within the article are some of the perfect offered [...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Nice Site…
[…] … great article that everyone should read […] …
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
Blogs you should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……