MyHappyTrading.com's  Instablog

This morning, the market opened higher, encouraged by M&A deals.  Xerox (XRX) announced a $6.5 billion deal to buy ACS.  XRX shares dropped 14.48% while ACS jumped +14.%.  Abbott Laboratories (ABT) said it would pay $6.6 billion for the pharmaceutical business of Belgian chemicals maker Solvay.  ABT shares traded higher by +2.64%.

The financials responded well to the news:  GS +1.67%, HIG +10.76%, AXP +4.05%, BLK +4.99%, PRU +6.11%.  CME jumped more than $15 trading at just above $309/share.  ICE also advanced, up +4.33%.  Commodity sectors mostly bounced higher.

The Dow was up +124.17 points; SPX added +18.6 points; Nasdaq gained +39.82 points:

XLF (financials) hopped +3.36%, closing above $15.  OIH (oil services) bounced +2.31%.  XME (metals and mining) and XLE (energy) were both higher, +1.55% and +1.61%, respectively.  USO (oil) was up, but, UNG (natural gas) went down.  INX2 (internet) led the techs with a +2.17% gain.  FXI (Chinese ADRs) eked out a small win.

SPX

SPX added +18.6 points to close at 1062.98.  It closed above its 10-day MA.  The MACD slid.

Nasdaq

Nasdaq gained +39.82 points to close at 2130.74.  its daily MAs were higher and the MACD flattened.

Both the SPX and Nasdaq closed above their respective 10-day MAs.  VIX slid to close below 25.  Today's action was surprisingly strong.  After last week's quick drop, today's pop brings the market back to a neutral stance, while keeping its "bullish" formation.  Another strong day could bring this market to test the recent highs.  The commodity sectors started to bounce today, but, we'll need to see them with much more strength in order to push the broader market higher. 

Good night and HappyTrading! ™