This morning, the market was encouraged by a possible rescue plan for Greece's debt crisis. In addition, CAT received an upgrade from Morgan Stanley. Commodity sectors jumped and pushed the Dow back above the 10,000 mark. CAT finished the day up +5.42%. Both BUCY and JOYG also benefitted, gaining +4.48% and +2.74%, respectively. AGU reported earnings that missed the estimates, but, gave a bullish outlook for 2010. AGU shares jumped +5.04%. Other agriculture stocks were strong as well, with POT rising +4.04% and CF adding +3.77%. Airline stocks surged today on UAUA's traffic report: UAUA +17.52%, DAL +10.13%, JBLU +9.09%, LCC +8.6%.
After the market, BIDU reported strong quarterly revenues with a solid guidance. Its shares flew up +8.87% or $38.57, trading at a new all-time high this evening, above $473 per share! NTGR also delivered a superb quarter with earnings and guidance above the consensus. NTGR shares hopped more than +14% in after-hours trading.
The Dow was up +150.25 points; SPX added +13.78 points; Nasdaq gained +24.82 points:
SOXX (semiconductors) led the techs with a +1.43% gain. GDX (gold miners) jumped +4.39% while XME (metals and mining) added +3.99%. USO (oil) and GLD (gold) were both higher, as the dollar weakened. OIH (oil services) garnered +2.69%. MOO (agriculture) bounced +3.18%. FXI (Chinese ADRs) advanced +3.47%.
SPX
SPX added +13.78 points to close at 1070.52. Its daily MAs and MACD slid.
Nasdaq
Nasdaq gained +24.82 points to close at 2150.87. Its daily MAs were lower, but, the MACD came up.
As discussed in my Market Forecast, the market was ready for a bounce, as the dollar was getting toppy. However, the market is still very jittery and especially sensitive to any news coming out of Europe. The euro has been dropping against the rising dollar as worries mounted regarding Greece. Today, euro bounced on hopes of a rescue plan for Greece. The pullback on dollar further encouraged commodity sectors to rebound, and thus boosted the market. A confirmation from Europe on a sound solution for Greece's debts will certainly help the global financial markets. However, the financial stocks were still weak. GS, WFC, and JPM were barely green, while BAC finished unchanged. Both SPX and Nasdaq tested the 10-day MA, but, were not able to close above, just yet. Nasdaq barely finished above 2150, while SPX still closed below its support level at 1080. We'll probably need to see more buying in the financials to help push SPX above 1080. But, lingering debate on possible, new bank regulations still hang some clouds over the financial stocks. Before getting above SPX 1080, any bounce in this market can be easily wipe away by the downward momentum.
Good night and HappyTrading! ™
