Stock Market News for January 11, 2012 - Market News
11 Januar 2012 - 10:06AM
Zacks
Positive developments from the
other side of the Atlantic and an upbeat outlook from aluminum
producer Alcoa combined to take the markets higher on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, what was most significant was that Wall Street logged a
five-month trading high. The materials sector contributed
significantly to the broader rally along with decent gains by
technology stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
(DJIA) climbed 0.6% to end the day at 12,462.47. The Standard &
Poor 500 (S&P 500) gained 0.9% and finished yesterday’s trading
session at 1,292.08. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index inched
up by a percent to close the day at 2,702.50. The fear-gauge CBOE
Volatility Index (VIX) dropped 1.8% to settle at 20.69, continuing
to display stronger conviction in the markets. The VIX has declined
by 11.6% this year, hovering around levels that markets last
witnessed in July 2011. The Street looked busy yesterday as the
consolidated volumes on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and
Nasdaq were 7.02 billion shares, ahead of the daily average of 6.7
billion. On the NYSE, the advancers had an upper hand over the
decliners, as for 75% of the gainers, 22% stocks moved down. The
remaining 3% of the stocks were left unchanged.
Investors’ smiles widened after
they learnt that the Dow and S&P 500 had hit five-month
intra-day highs. The S&P 500 witnessed its highest closing
levels since July last year. Markets had been trending up over the
past few sessions, and a slew of encouraging economic reports,
particularly since late-December, have been boosting sentiment.
Clearly, economic data provides significant direction to the
markets and is expected to do so in the coming days. Coupled with
these developments, Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE:AA) has unofficially kick
started the earnings season, and market movement will largely
depend on the bellwether’s quarterly results.
In fact, Alcoa’s upbeat guidance
paved the way for yesterday’s gains. Post the closing bell on
Monday, Alcoa reported a loss of $0.03 per share, excluding special
items, for the period from October to December, 2011. However, the
bellwether’s revenues increased 6% and also topped forecasts. Alcoa
also boosted sentiment when it said that it expects global aluminum
demand to grow 7% in 2012. A large group of companies depend on
Alcoa and an upbeat outlook from the aluminum maker perhaps hints
at better days ahead for the economy. Alcoa projected growth in
automotive, aerospace, construction, packaging and commercial
transportation.
The materials sector cashed in on
the optimism and the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) fund was up
1.9%. Among the gainers, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
(NYSE:FCX), Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE:SCCO), Newmont Mining Corp.
(NYSE:NEM) and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD)
gained 4.0%, 3.7%, 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively.
Among the other sectors, the
technology sector also enjoyed significant gains. Among the gainers
in the technology sector, Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC),
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), Super
Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) and Avid Technology, Inc.
(NASDAQ:AVID) jumped 4.5%, 1.6%, 1.0%, 1.8% and 5.6%,
respectively.
Europe also spurred the positive
mood yesterday after ratings agency Fitch Ratings affirmed that it
will not lower France’s ‘AAA” credit rating. The euro also moved
higher against the greenback for the second day in a row.
ALCOA INC (AA): Free Stock Analysis Report
AVID TECH INC (AVID): Free Stock Analysis Report
COMP SCIENCE (CSC): Free Stock Analysis Report
DU PONT (EI) DE (DD): Free Stock Analysis Report
DELL INC (DELL): Free Stock Analysis Report
FREEPT MC COP-B (FCX): Free Stock Analysis Report
HEWLETT PACKARD (HPQ): Free Stock Analysis Report
NEWMONT MINING (NEM): Free Stock Analysis Report
SOUTHERN COPPER (SCCO): Free Stock Analysis Report
SUPER MICRO COM (SMCI): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jun 2024 bis Jul 2024
Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jul 2023 bis Jul 2024