The market was strong today with commodity sectors leading the rally. Yesterday, in my Sector Watch, we looked at the agriculture sector, as MOO made a solid move higher last week. Today, POT was rumored to be a buyout target for BHP, and, the sector pushed higher! POT opened above $100 this morning and never looked back, adding +6.48% on the day. CF gained +4.77% and AGU jumped +7.65%. Miners also recorded solid gains: RTP +2.63%, FCX +4.32% (reporting Wednesday morning), BTU +3.51% (reporting tomorrow morning), ACI +3.51%, CNX +2.88%.
After the market, AAPL reported fantastic earnings that smashed the estimates! AAPL shares jumped in the after-hours trading, up $12.54, trading at a new record high, momentarily above $204, before settling at $202.4. TXN also reported better-than-expected earnings, sending its shares up +2.85%.
The Dow finished up +96.28 points; SPX added +10.23 points; Nasdaq gained +19.52 points:
Commodity sectors were mostly in the green: XME (metals and mining) +1.11%, OIH (oil services) +1.52%, XLE (energy) +1.31%, MOO (agriculture) +3.26%. Both USO (oil) and UNG (natural gas) were both higher. GLD (gold) and SLV (silver) also went up. INX2 (internet) rose more than +2% to lead the techs. FXI (Chinese ADRs) hopped +3.06%.
SPX
SPX added +10.23 points to close at 1097.91. Its daily MAs and MACD went higher.
Nasdaq
Nasdaq gained +19.52 points to close at 2176.32. Its daily MAs and MACD went up.
Both SPX and Nasdaq pushed higher towards their respective daily upper BBs. SPX briefly tested 1100 today, but, closed just below. With AAPL and TXN's solid earnings this afternoon, the techs should lead the market higher tomorrow. Energy stocks also remain strong as oil keeps going up. After resting for a couple of days, gold came back up to challenge the recent high. It looks most sectors are continuing the ascend. If the financials can get some good results from BLK and STT tomorrow morning, we could see another broad-based rally.
Good night and HappyTrading! ™
