Disaster. So Why Is This Index Higher?
Stocks were higher on a strong seasonal bias
and a much better than expected economic report. The market
even ignored higher oil prices. Consumer confidence in December rose to 102.3,
the highest level since July; consensus was 94. Retail sales rose 2.7%
for the week ending December 25 International Council of
Shopping Centers and UBS.
The Insurance Index
(
$IUX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed near a
52-week high after investors decided the tsunami would not result in significant
insurance claims.
Pfizer
(
PFE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) received approval to market its
anti fungus drug, Vfend. PFE is trading at 26.99, up 0.48.
This is settlement day for some hedge funds–last day to trade and have
settlement in 2004.
Strong sectors were:Â Internet
(
GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.74%,
Biotech
(
BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.23%, Insurance
(
IUX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.59%
Weak sectors were: Gold
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.79%.
Â
Dow | +76.85 | 10,852.98 |
S&P 500 | +8.28 | 1213.20 |
Nasdaq | +20.22 | 2,174.44 |
The dollar was +0.89 at
80.74
Crude Oil was +0.47 at
41.79
Gold was -0.70 to 443.80
ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume was 891 million on the NYSE and
1.44 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive.
NYSE | Issues | |
Advancing | 2425 | Up Vol 681 |
Declining | 905 | Down Vol 174 |
Ratio | 2.67 | 3.91 |
Nasdaq |
||
Advancing | 2186 | Up Vol 912 |
Declining | 958 | Down Vol 517 |
Ratio | 2.28 | 1.76 |
Stocks in the News
Blockbuster
(
BBI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) will offer $11.50 for Hollywood
Entertainment
(
HLYW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Universal Health Services
(
UHS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)Â is ’04 EPS cutting guidance.
JP Morgan raised its price target on Tyco
(
TYC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to $40.
Lockheed
(
LMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) won a $109.2 million artillery rocket contract from
the Army.
Home Depot will sell appliances online; the
company will offer more than 1800 items, including refrigerators and
dishwashers.
Bear Stearns raised its rating on Amazon
(
AMZN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to outperform and
raised the price target to $55.
Bank of America raised its price target on Sirius to $5.25 and XMSR
to $44.
Brice Wightman