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Monday continues to be an extremely bullish day of the week for Wall Street as the Dow climbed more than 130 points to fresh 2009 highs thanks to yet another dive for the U.S. dollar, which triggered more gains for commodities.
Today’s Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 132.79 points, or 1.29%, to 10450.95, the S&P 500 gained 14.86 points, or 1.36%, to 1106.24 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 29.97 points, or 1.40%, to 2176.01.The FOX 50 added 12.35 points, or 1.53%, to 820.63.
Fueled by a 0.7% drop for the greenback against the euro, crude oil flirted with $80 a barrel before backing off and gold surged 2% to new record highs. That in turn boosted commodity-related stocks like Schlumberger (SLB) and Hecla Mining (HL).
“Investment decisions are being made solely due to the direction of the U.S. dollar,” Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, wrote in a note to clients.
The Dow, which has surged 6,547 points, or 59.63% since March 9, settled at its highest level since Oct. 2, 2008. Almost all 30 blue-chip stocks closed in the green, led by Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T) and General Electric (GE). On the other hand, Alcoa (AA) and Merck (MRK) ended slightly lower.
“Things are starting off pretty good but the volume really has been abysmal at best. Either direction the tape takes, I don’t think we can put any true stock in it,” NYSE trader Jason Weisberg of Seaport Securities told FOX Business.
Volume has tapered off in recent weeks as the end of the year draws near and portfolio managers look to maintain their gains. That's likely to continue this week amid the Thanksgiving holiday.
With the latest gains, the Dow has now closed higher every Monday this month, adding a combined 546 points during those days. The markets had been stuck in a slump, ending last week in a rare three-day losing streak.
Once again Wall Street’s gains were driven by the currency markets as the dollar tumbled after a Federal Reserve official said the central bank should extend its mortgage-related assets purchase program. The comments put pressure on the dollar as they are the latest to suggest the Fed has no plans to turn off the liquidity tap that has weakened the greenback any time soon.
Lifting mining stocks like Freeport McMoRan (FCX), gold climbed to new all-time highs on the currency action. Gold gained $17.90 per troy ounce, or 1.56%, to $1164.30. The precious metal has rallied in 15 of the last 16 sessions -- the longest streak of its kind.
Energy stocks were also strong as crude oil neared $80 a barrel before paring its gains late in the day. Crude rose 9 cents a barrel, or 0.12%, to $77.56.
Stocks hit session highs after the National Association Realtors said existing home sales jumped 10.1% in October to an annualized rate of 6.1 million units. Economists had been projecting a rate of 5.7 million units. The industry group also said the median existing home price fell 7.1% from a year ago to $173,100. The better-than-expected report sent shares of home builders like DR Horton (DHI) and Pulte Homes (PHM) solidly higher but that rally lost steam.
Corporate Movers
News Corp. (NWSA) and Microsoft (MSFT) are in preliminary discussions that could lead News Corp. to “delist” its newspaper content from Google’s (GOOG) search engine and instead feature it on Microsoft’s Bing search engine, The Wall Street Journal reported. It is not clear how the deal would work financially for the two companies, but it comes as News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch repeatedly said Google’s pay structure for content providers is financially inadequate.
Cadbury’s (CBY) stock hit a record high after the Journal reported late Friday that Hershey (HSY), with the backing of its trust, will push to buy the British candy company. At the same time, Swiss food giant Nestle is considering various options including a possible bid that would challenge Kraft’s (KFT) original offer, Bloomberg News reported.
Tyson Foods (TSN) beat the Street with a non-GAAP profit of 28 cents a share on revenue of $7.21 billion.
UPS (UPS) said it will raise shipping rates by an average of 4.9% starting Jan. 4. Last year the shipping giant raised rates by 5.9%.
Eni (E) announced plans to acquire stakes in Ugandan oil fields from British oil company Heritage Oil for $1.35 billion.
LDK Solar (LDK) soared more than 6% after the Chinese solar wafer maker reported a profit of 27 cents a share. Analysts had been projecting a loss of 10 cents a share. The company’s sales fell from $541.8 million last year to $281.9 million.
Global Markets
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.98% to 5355.50, France's CAC 40 jumped 2.25% to 3813.17 and Germany's DAX climbed 2.44% to 5801.48.
In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng soared 1.41% to 22,771.39 and China's Shanghai Composite advanced 0.92% to 3338.66. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was closed for a national holiday.
Gas prices will continue to rise before leveling offWall Street’s Comeback Comes Up Short
