Stocks have been up for six straight days now, and the S&P has rallied nearly 7% during that time span. That is quite a run, and we quickly find ourselves with the major equity indexes back at overhead resistance levels.
The market is up sharply this morning, with the major indexes better by more than 1% in early trading. Last night, earnings season kicked off with Alcoa (AA) and Novellus (NVLS), both of which reported better than expected results and saw their stocks rally.
The market is higher in early trading, which is a little surprising following last week’s 4-day rally and outsized gains. There was some M&A news this morning, in the form of Aon (AON) announcing it will buy Hewitt Associates (HEW) for $50, a 40% premium to Friday’s close.
The market is higher again in early trading. If it were able to close in positive territory, it would mark the 4th consecutive daily advance this week, which is a welcome change from the price action of the last few weeks.
The market is higher in early trading, adding on to yesterday’s outsized rally. Asian markets followed the lead of the U.S. and rallied strongly overnight, led by Japan (+2.8%). This morning, European markets are also higher, after the Bank of England and the ECB both left interest rates unchanged at 0.50% and 1.00%, respectively.
I don’t know how many times I have said that I don’t like a market that opens too strong, too early. Yesterday was just another glaring example. The Dow spiked 150 points higher just after the open, but by late day it have given back all of those gains. A late day rally did help it manage to finish in positive territory, but it’s not the kind of action I would prefer.
The markets are nicely higher this morning, as were overseas markets, trying to reverse the persistent slide over the last 2 weeks. In fact, the market has moved lower in 9 of the last 10 sessions. There isn’t much in the way of market moving news this morning, so it looks like traders are simply taking advantage of the pullback to buy beaten down names.
I will not be blogging on Friday. I have family obligations to attend to. Just be glad you don’t have to go to Disneyland ahead of the July 4th weekend. Wish me luck– Read the rest of this entry »
The market is slightly higher in early trading, after yesterday’s pronounced selloff. Asian markets were lower overnight, with China -1.2%, but European markets are higher this morning after a short-term debt offering from the ECB showed low demand. This was taken as a sign that liquidity concerns related to an expiring ECB lending program may not be as bad as feared.
The market is lower this morning after a weaker than expected leading economic indicators report in China (+0.3% vs. +1.7% consensus). China has been a big driver of global economic growth, so signs that it could be slowing are bound to have pronounced effects on markets.
