The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.83% at 82.833. The GSCI commodity index rose about 0.6% to 633.92, with commodities prices mostly lower today. WTI crude oil rose 0.5% today, closing at $89.39/barrel. Brent crude trades up 0.78% at $105.19/barrel. Natural gas is up 0.85% today to $3.096/thousand cubic feet following an in-line storage report. Gold settled at $1,615.10/ounce, up 0.4%.
The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 211 points to 12,887.32 (1.67%), the NASDAQ rose about 39 points (1.37%) to 2,893.25, and the S&P 500 rose 1.65% or more than 22 points to 1,360.02.
There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) cut to ‘neutral’ at UBS; Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) cut to ‘market perform’ at BMO; Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; The Fresh Market (NASDAQ: TFM) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank; and Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) raised to ‘outperform’ at JMP Securities.
Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is up 24.5% at $35.18; Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) is down -10.6% at $13.01; LSI Corp. (NYSE: LSI) is up 17% at $7.08; O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) is down -3.4% at $87.06; Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) is down -2.8% at $28.15; 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) is up 2.3% at $90.77 after posting a new 52-week high of $92.00; Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) is up 0.35% at $34.57; Alcatel Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) is down -3.8% at $1.02 after posting a new 52-week low of $0.99 earlier today; Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) is down -2.4% at $32.97 after posting a new 52-week low of $31.00 earlier today (more coverage here); Agco Corp. (NASDAQ: AGCO) is up 5.9% at $43.40; CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) is up 2.5% at $52.52; Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) is up 4.2% at $106.50 after posting a new 52-week high of $106.83 earlier today; CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) is up 2.4% at $28.54; MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) is up 38.4% at $8.69; and Syngenta AG (NYSE: SYT) is up 5.7% at $68.52.
After markets close today we are set to hear from Acme Packet Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR), Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK), Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD), Green Dot Corp. (NYSE: GDOT), Healthsouth Corp. (NYSE: HLS), and Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX).
Before markets open tomorrow we are scheduled to get earnings results from Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI), Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI), KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE: KKR), Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK), Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. (NASDAQ: RUTH), and Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY).
Some standouts from today include the following stocks:
Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) is up XX% at $XX. The wireless carrier reported better-than-expected revenues and its outlook improved. More coverage here.
Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is down -XX% at $XX. The social games maker was downgraded by a fleet of analysts today. More coverage here.
NovaGold Resources Inc. (NYSEMKT: NG) is down -XX% at $XX. The junior gold miner got hammered on comments from Barrick Gold Corp. More coverage here.
PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) is up XX% at $XX. The homebuilder reported good earnings and a strong order book going forward. More coverage here.
Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):
- 8:30 a.m. – Gross domestic product
- 9:55 a.m. – University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment index
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Paul Ausick
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