- Investors give Janet Yellen a thumbs-up in her Senate testimony, as she leaves little doubt that the Fed's easy money policies will continue, sending the Dow and S&P to new record highs.
- "Yellen's comments would lead the market to have less expectations of a December taper, which seemed to be building for a while," says the chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management.
- Home builders shot up as investors bet that continued bond buying will keep a lid on mortgage rates, but tech stocks lagged after poor Q3 results and a dim outlook from Cisco.
- Treasurys turned higher on the dovish outlook and regained its footing after a soft auction of 30-year bonds; the yield on the benchmark 10-year note slipped 2.5 bps to 2.696%.
- Nymex crude fell slightly after data showed supplies rose for an eighth week in a row, but Brent crude rallied past $108 following a report that OPEC output fell for a third straight month; the divergent moves pushed the spread briefly above $15/barrel.