This morning, in addition to encouraging manufacturing and personal spending data, XOM reported better-than-expected earnings. As discussed in my Market Forecast last night, the market was ready for a bounce. Energy stocks led the market higher: XOM +2.72%, RIG +3.07%, DO +3.67%, APA +3.68%, WLT +4.74%, UPL +4.98%.
AMZN shares fell more than 5% as it gave in to pressure from publisher Macmillan to raise ebook prices. AMZN traded as low as $113.82 before bouncing to close at $118.87. BIDU received an upgrade as analyst tried to re-shift the focus back to GOOG's discussion with the Chinese government over censoring and internet security issues. BIDU shares jumped almost to $430 today before settling back to $425.68, up $13.97 or +3.39% for the day.
The Dow was up +118.20 points; SPX climbed +15.32 points; Nasdaq gained +23.85 points:
Most sectors participated in today's bounce. Commodity sectors have come down fast and far in the past 2 weeks, and were particularly strong in the bounce: XME (metals and mining) +5.91%, XLE (energy) +3.3%, GDX (gold miners) +5.45%. USO (oil) and UNG (natural gas) both rebounded strongly. SOXX (semiconductors) led the techs with a +3.05% gain. GLD (gold) and SLV (silver) were also higher. XLF (financials) was higher by +1.69%. FXI (Chinese ADRs) advanced +3.13%.
SPX climbed +15.32 points to close at 1089.19, above the 1080 level. Nasdaq gained +23.85 points to close at 2171.2 above the 2150 level. The charts on these indices do not show further information than what was already discussed in my Market Forecast this weekened. Therefore, we'll look at the charts for these market indices another day. The important thing to watch tomorrow is whether this bounce has more legs to run. Another oil giant, BP, reports tomorrow morning. So, energy stocks should be in focus once again.
Good night and HappyTrading! ™
