There's No Business Like FOX Business
Boosted by rallying commodity-related and financial stocks, the markets turned solidly higher Tuesday afternoon as Wall Street looks to rebound from Monday's tumble.
Today’s Markets
As of 1:28 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.21 points, or 0.45%, to 9822.77, the Standard & Poor's 500 gained 6.32 points, or 0.59%, to 1070.98 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 6.72 points, or 0.31%, to 2144.78. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 added 4.64 points, or 0.60%, to 777.85.
After fluctuating between green and red earlier in the day, the markets hit session highs in recent trading as a rally in the commodity markets regained steam. Stocks continue to closely track crude oil and other commodities, which have climbed as the dollar plunged to another new one-year low versus the Euro.The weaker greenback pushed crude oil up nearly $2 and helped send gold above $1015 an ounce.
The modest gains come after the Dow tumbled 41 points on Monday on a weak commodity/strong dollar picture.Underscoring how hot the markets have been this month, Monday’s 41-point decline was the Dow’s steepest loss since Sept. 1. A year ago, the blue-chip index would regularly lose hundreds of points in a single day amid the height of the credit crisis.
Just over half of the Dow's 30 components were in the green in recent trading, led by 2% gains for JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Caterpillar (CAT). The index's biggest percentage losers included Kraft (KFT) and Cisco (CSCO).
Financial stocks were the biggest percentage gainers for Wall Street as former investment banks Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) rallied to new 52-week highs. While the sector climbed 2%, Citigroup (C) jumped 5% even after Singapore wealth fund GIC said it sold half its stake in the bank.
Lifted by a rebound for crude oil, the energy sector also gained almost 2%. Individual stocks like Hess (HES) rallied even further as oil bounced back from its worst day in two weeks by climbing to $71.30 a barrel, up $1.59, or 2.28%.
Basic materials stocks like AK Steel (AKS) and Freeport McMoRan (FCX) also rallied as metals rebounded from Monday’s fall. Gold neared its exchange-record close thanks to the weaker dollar, climbing $9.60 an ounce, or 0.97%, to $1014.50.
On the economic front, the Federal Housing Finance Agency released its home price index for July, saying prices rose 0.3% from the month before. However, the regulator said prices were down 4.2% from July 2008. Home builders like Pulte (PHM) and Hovnanian (HOV) remained in the green after the report was released.
Meanwhile, Wall Street is awaiting the start of the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day policy meeting, its first since Fed Chief Ben Bernanke declared the recession is likely over. While the markets largely expect the central bank will keep interest rates near zero and emergency programs in place, traders will be watching to see if the Fed begins to indicate when it will raise rates to ward off the threat of inflation.
Corporate Movers
Bank of America (BAC) director Charles Holliday declined to support CEO Ken Lewis in an interview on FOX Business. Asked if he supports the embattled CEO, Holliday said, “I was just elected yesterday. I think it’d be a little too early to talk about specifics of the company.”
Lowe’s (LOW) issued a cautious earnings outlook for fiscal 2010 but the home improvement retailer said it sees same-stores climbing about 1%. While Lowe’s backed its fiscal 2009 guidance, the company said it sees 2010 EPS of $1.24 to $1.34. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been expecting $1.33.
ConAgra (CAG) posted a 60% drop in net income but the food processing giant’s non-GAAP EPS of 38 cents beat the Street. The maker of Slim Jim snacks and Healthy Choice frozen foods forecasted 2010 EPS of $1.70 ex-items, topping analysts’ view for $1.63 to $1.66.
Citigroup (C) saw its shares rally even after Singapore wealth fund GIC said it halved its holdings in the bank and now has a stake below 5%. GIC said it wishes to be a portfolio manager, not a major stakeholder. The fund likely made a profit of $1.6 billion on the transaction.
Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison reportedly said Sun Microsystems (JAVA) is losing about $100 million each month. At the same time, the world’s fourth-richest man said he expects his company’s $7 billion buyout of Sun Micro to receive a green light from European regulators without spinning off Sun’s MySQL database, Reuters reported.
Alcoa (AA) and U.S. Steel (X) were on the rise after a pair of analysts released positive notes on the metals companies. Goldman Sachs upgraded its price target on Alcoa, the Pittsburgh-based aluminum maker, to $16 from $13, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch reportedly upgraded U.S. Steel from “underperform” to “neutral” and lifted its price target on the company from $30 to $55.
The Buckle (BKE) announced a one-time special dividend of $1.80 a share on top of its regular quarterly dividend of 20 cents, sending its stock climbing 6%.
Google (GOOG) climbed above $500 for the first time in a year as the search titan reportedly won a positive opinion on trademarked words in Europe. According to Dow Jones Newswires, a European court backed Google in a battle with luxury goods giant LVMH by saying Google “has not infringed trademark rights by allowing advertisers to buy keywords corresponding to registered trademarks.”
Global Markets
European markets climbed across the board as the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.16% to 5142.60, France's CAC 40 rose 0.30% to 3823.52 and Germany's DAX jumped 0.72% to 5709.38.
In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1.06% to 21701.14 but China's Shanghai Composite fell 2.34% to 2897.55. Japanese markets remained close for a national holiday.
Stocks Post Solid Gains Despite Jobs ReportJump in energy demand fuels stocks
