Equities Update: New Highs for 2009

4:14 PM, Nov 16, 2009 --

• NYSE up 117.18 (1.65%) to 7,237.07.
• DJIA up 136.5 (1.3%) to 10,407.
• S&P 500 up 15.82 (1.45%) to 1,109.
• Nasdaq up 29.9 (1.38%) to 2,198.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

• Hang Seng up 1.73%
• Nikkei up 0.21%
• FTSE up 2.09%

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) C is subject of Bloomberg story putting Paulson stake at 300 mln shares.

(+) S gets upgrade.

(+) NLST continues last week gain on product launch.

(+) NABI inks licensing deal on nicotine vaccine with GSK.

(+) CSCO lifts Tandberg bid to $3.4 bln.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) PARD reports disappointing study results.

(-) CRXX tumbling on FDA decision NDA for EXALGO not sufficient for approval.

(-) LOW misses with earnings, guidance straddles Street.

(-) SHPGY gets downgraded.

MARKET DIRECTION

Stock averages close in the upper end of the day's range, each up around 1% or better, at fresh 13-month highs. The gain included a move above the psychologically key 1,100 mark for the S&P 500, the first time the broad average has cleared this level since October 2008. Mostly positive economic data from around the globe bolstered hopes for a more pronounced economic recovery.

Stocks briefly pared their gains after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said policymakers would monitor a weak dollar. But he repeated the Fed's intention to hold interest rates low until the economy strengthens. Those comments gave a short-lived boost to the dollar but commodities held their rally.

The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 1.4 percent in October, easily surpassing the 0.8 percent increase forecast by economists polled by Thomson Reuters. The gain marked a solid reversal from the 2.3 percent drop in September. Excluding the gain from autos, however, sales rose just 0.2 percent, half of what economists predicted.

After hitting a five-year high in the previous month, manufacturing activity in the New York expanded at a slower pace in November, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said Monday. The bank's Empire State Manufacturing index fell to 23.5 in November from 34.6 in October.

Materials and commodities-linked stocks helped fuel the charge. The dollar hit a new 15-month low. In its wake, crude rebounded from a one-month low, jumping 3.3% to $78.90 a barrel. Gold reached a record $1,143.40 an ounce.

Comments

[robert.b.ferguson]

More of the same. Smoke and mirrors coupled with not as bad equals good.

2009 Nov 16 06:07 PM

[ebworthen]

Sometimes, the coat tails of Wall Street can pull along the masses and into the party.

They have opened a lot of champagne, but the average person knows a storm is coming.

2009 Nov 16 09:37 PM