YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: A concerted, broad-based buying effort gave
the stock market its best start to a new week of trade in about four months.
The bounce comes after stocks booked only their second weekly loss in a dozen
weeks of trade.
Stocks displayed strength for the entire session. More than half of
the 10 major sectors scored gains in excess of 1%. The best moves were booked
by Health Care and Tech, both of which bounded for gains of 1.7%. Financial and
Consumer Discretionary sectors were close behind with gains of 1.6%.
The Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 were able to outperform the
other headline averages with help from their large-cap constituents. Qualcomm (QCOM 68.59, +1.90), biotech
play Biogen Idec (BIIB
125.80, +4.84), and discretionary play Amazon.com
(AMZN 202.87, +7.83) were especially strong.
Small-cap stocks stood out for their heady gains, too. Altogether
they climbed almost 2%, as measured by the Russell 2000.
Utilities and Telecom stocks lagged all session, but even those two
defensive-oriented sectors scored gains of 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively.
The dollar dropped to a modest loss shortly before the open of
trade then extended its slide into the session's close. By the end of the day
it was down about 0.6% against a basket of major foreign currencies. The
dollar's descent made it easier for gold and silver prices to rise in excess of
1% so that they settled pit trade at $1685.70 per ounce and $32.78 per ounce,
respectively. Oil had a relatively quiet session that saw it close pit trade
with a 0.2% gain at $107.08 per barrel.
Headlines were limited, but those that were released came out this
morning. Early traders initially took heart from news that
Additionally, Fed Chairman Bernanke's indication that job market
conditions remain far from normal was regarded by many as a tacit sign that the
Fed recognizes the need for accommodative policies.
Little attention was paid overall to the report, but in some
circles it was noted that pending home sales fell in February by 0.5%, which
contrasts the Briefing.com consensus call for a 0.5% increase.
Amid an absence of news, crude oil prices spent most of pit trade
chopping along in a range of $0.70, setting a high near $107.28 per barrel and
a low near $106.58 per barrel. The energy component settled floor trading at
$107.08 per barrel for a tepid gain of just 0.2%. Natural gas opened its pit
session at $2.39 per MMBtu and quickly shed 7 cents to set its session low.
Natural gas prices spent the remainder of floor trade near that mark and
ultimately settled with a 2.1% loss at $2.32 per MMBtu.
Precious metals rallied out of the red near the end of electronic
trade, just as the dollar turned downward. In that move gold gained greater
than $20, while silver spiked about $0.55. Both gold and silver spent pit trade
sporting impressive gains before they settled at $1685.70 per ounce and $32.78
per ounce with gains of 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively.
Advancing Sectors:
Tech +1.7%, Health Care +1.7%, Financials +1.6%, Consumer Discretionary +1.6%,
Industrials +1.5%, Materials +1.4%, Energy +0.9%, Utilities +0.8%, Consumer
Staples +0.8%, Telecom +0.6%
Declining Sectors:
(None)DJ30 +160.90 NASDAQ +54.65 NQ100 +1.8% R2K +1.9% SP400 +1.4% SP500 +19.40
NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1952/1.59 bln/607 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2306/742 mln/734