The US dollar index rose slightly today, now up 0.07% at 83.088 after posting a high of 83.34 earlier this morning. The GSCI commodity index rose about 0.2% to 632.52, with commodities prices mostly higher today. Corn prices rose a modest 1.2%. WTI crude oil rose 0.7% today, closing at $89.87/barrel, a seven-week high. Brent crude trades up 1.1% at $105.11/barrel. Natural gas is up 6.3% today to $2.972/thousand cubic feet on an expected drop in tomorrow’s storage report. Gold settled at $1,573.00/ounce, down 1%.
The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 103 points to 12,908.70 (0.81%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 33 points (1.12%) to 2,942.60, and the S&P 500 rose 0.67% or more than 9 points to 1,372.78.
There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) cut to ‘hold’ at Jefferies; Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) started as ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) cut to ‘sell’ at Argus; Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) cut to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs; and Hillshire Brands Co. (NYSE: HSH) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse.
Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is up 3.8% at $26.35; CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) is down -0.9% at $22.59; United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) is down -14.4% at $29.46; Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) is down -1.1% at $96.34; Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) is down -0.7% at $66.00 after posting a new 52-week high of $66.80 earlier today (more coverage here); Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is down -4.2% at $7.59 (more coverage here); BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) is down -0.5% at $175.19; Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) is up 7.4% at $49.00; Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) is up 6.7% at $58.20; and W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) is up 11.2% at $210.16.
After markets close today we are set to hear from American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), International Business Machines Inc. (NYSE: IBM), Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP), Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE), and Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM).
Before markets open on Thursday we are scheduled to get earnings results from AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN), Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE), NVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR), Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM), Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY), and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ).
Some standouts from today include the following stocks:
Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is up 9.8% at $29.04 after posting a new 52-week high of $32.49 earlier today. The biopharmaceutical firm received FDA approval for its anti-obesity drug. More coverage here.
Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SUPN) is up 36.1% at $14.55. The drug maker expects to launch two new drugs next year, now than an issue with the FDA has been cleared up.
Rovi Corp. (NASDAQ: ROVI) is down -42.8% at $10.10, after posting a new 52-week low of $10.05 earlier today. The digital entertainment technology company warned on earnings today.
EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) is up 9.8% at $25.17. The enterprise storage maker, which owns 80% of VMWare Inc. (NYSE: VMW), replaced VMWare’s CEO today in a management shake-up that was well received by investors.
Stay tuned for Thursday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):
- 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
- 10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales
- 10:00 a.m. – Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey
- 10:00 a.m. – Leading economic indicators
- 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
- 1:00 p.m. – 10-year TIPS auction
- 4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply
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Paul Ausick
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