Strong Earnings Push Stocks Higher
Strong earnings push stocks higher after starting the session off slightly lower. Investors weighed reports on earnings and the latest reports on personal income and spending. After yesterday’s close, Microsoft reported quarterly profit soared 31% in the quarter as sales of the Kinect and Microsoft Office proved to be strong. The company said sales of it notebooks were down 40% in the quarter; the news pushed shares of Microsoft down 4%. Equipment maker Caterpillar reported the best earnings of the day, topping analysts’ estimates by 53 cents. Caterpillar reported first-quarter profit of $1.84 a share; the company raised its full year outlook from $6.00 to between $6.25 and $6.75 per share. Merck also reported better than Expected earnings; the drug maker said it earned $0.92 per share, more than the forecasts of $0.84 per share. Investors were also given updates on personal spending and income this morning, also helping push stocks higher as results were better than expected. The Commerce Department said personal income rose 0.5% in March and personal spending increased by 0.6%. Today’s results were just slightly higher than expected; analysts’ expected personal income to rise 0.4% and personal spending to rise by 0.5%. March results were also slightly higher than February’s report that showed personal income rose 0.4% and personal spending rose 0.9%. Investors were very pleased with the report after yesterday’s news from the Labor Department. Stocks began the session with slight losses, but as the morning progressed and the data kept coming in, the tone changed and major indexes began to make gains. Oil prices rose today, along with gold which rose by almost $20. The dollar once again fell against other major currencies such as the euro, pound and the yen. With just under an hour remaining in the session, the Dow was at a gain of 50 points.
Economic data released today:
Core PCE Price Index:
March PCE Price Index rose 0.4% Rate on Month; rose 1.8% on Year; March PCE Core Price Index rose 0.1% Rate on Month; rose 0.9% on Year.
Employment Cost Index:
U.S. 1Q Employment Cost Index rose 2.0% From a Year Ago; U.S. 1Q Employment Cost Index rose 0.6%; Compared to Consensus of an increase by 0.5%.
Personal Income:
February Personal Income Revised to +0.4% from +0.3%; U.S. Personal Income rose 0.5% in March; Compared to Consensus of an increase by 0.3%.
Personal Spending:
February Spending Revised to +0.9% from +0.7%; U.S. Personal Spending rose 0.6% in March; Compared to Consensus of an increase by 0.5%.
US ISM-New York:
U.S. ISM-New York: April Current Business Index 56.9 versus 66.4 in March.
Chicago PMI:
U.S. Chicago Purchasing Management April New Orders Index 66.3 versus March 74.5; U.S. Chicago Purchasing Management April Employment Index 63.7 versus March 65.6; U.S. Chicago Purchasing Management April Supplier Deliveries 68.4; March 62.7; U.S. Chicago Purchasing Management April Prices Paid Index 81.8 versus March 83.4; U.S. Chicago Purchasing Management Adjusted April Index 67.6 versus March 70.6.
Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index:
University of Michigan End-April Current Index 82.5; University of Michigan End-April Sentiment 69.8.
Michigan Inflation Expectations:
University of Michigan End-April Expectations 61.6; University of Michigan 5-Year Inflation Forecast rose 2.9%; University of Michigan 12-Month Inflation Forecast rose 4.6%.
At the NYSE closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, here is how the major world indices and major U.S. stock indices ended the trading session on the world markets as well as the emerging markets including the stock market closing bell price:
DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) gain 47.23 points, EOD 12,810.54
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) gain 31.77, EOD 8,671.50
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) shed 0.76 points, EOD 2,871.77
S&P 500 (SPX) gain 2.89 points, EOD 1,363.37
BEL 20 (BEL20) gain 1.78 points, EOD 2,768.34
CAC 40 (CAC40) gain 2.02 points, EOD 4,106.92
FTSE100 (UKX100) unchanged, EOD 6,069.90
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) unchanged, EOD 9,849.74
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,994, declined stock prices 1,084, unchanged stock prices 104, stock prices hitting new highs 361 and stock prices hitting new lows 17. NYSE quotes for volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the New York Stock Exchange stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: CPX gain 0.44, HOD 34.35, LOD 33.62, EOD 33.95; BC shed 1.78, HOD 25.24, LOD 23.20, EOD 23.40; RAH gain 6.38, HOD 81.19, LOD 71.24, EOD 77.80; STT gain 0.4054, HOD 46.61, LOD 46.00, EOD 46.57; CME shed 7.77, HOD 303.47, LOD 294.91, EOD 296.28; CAT gain 2.80, HOD 116.25, LOD 114.53, EOD 115.44; AGQ gain 6.30, HOD 376.38, LOD 354.04, EOD 358.96.
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,452, declined stock prices 1,183, unchanged stock prices 138, stock prices hitting new highs 201 and stock prices hitting new lows 29. NASDAQ quotes, volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the NASDAQ stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: QLIK gain 3.16, HOD 32.67, LOD 29.47, EOD 32.06; ALGN gain 0.07, HOD 24.28, LOD 23.87, EOD 24.14; RGLD gain 0.33, HOD 61.69, LOD 60.31, EOD 60.98; RIMM shed 7.94, HOD 49.85, LOD 48.20, EOD 48.65; CSTR gain 2.57, HOD 57.35, LOD 53.42, EOD 53.98; DECK shed 9.59, HOD 89.67, LOD 84.85, EOD 84.86; NTGR gain 7.75, HOD 43.67, LOD 39.79, EOD 41.75.
Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 266, declined stock prices 205, unchanged stock prices 35, stock prices hitting new highs 14 and stock prices hitting new lows 7.
Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market for the day, at time of this posting:
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) Mar 10: EOD 1359.50; Change 4.50
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) Mar 10: EOD 12,402.75; Change 1.00
E-mini DOW $5 (YM) Mar 10: EOD 12,757; Change 49
Nikkei 225 (Yen) Mar 10: EOD 9920; Change -10
World Currencies for the Forex Market, for Forex Trading by active Forex Traders, at time of this posting:
Euro 0.6744 to U.S. Dollars 1.48
Japanese Yen 81.2350 to U.S. Dollars 0.0123
British Pound 0.5988 to U.S. Dollars 1.6700
Canadian Dollar 0.9470 to U.S. Dollars 1.06
Swiss Franc 0.8660 to U.S. Dollars 1.16
COMMODITY MARKETS:
Energy Sector – Nymex:
Light Crude (June 11) unchanged, EOD $112.86 per barrel ($US per barrel)
Heating Oil (June 11) unchanged, EOD $3.25 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Natural Gas (May 11) unchanged, EOD $4.37 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.)
Unleaded Gas (June 11) shed $0.00, EOD $3.37 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Metals Markets – Comex:
Gold (June 11) gain $16.80, EOD $1,548.00 ($US per Troy ounce)
Silver (May 11) unchanged, EOD $47.52 ($US per Troy ounce)
Platinum (July 11) unchanged, EOD $1,839.90 ($US per Troy ounce)
Copper (May 11) shed $0.08, EOD $4.16 ($US per pound)
Livestock and Meat Markets – Chicago Mercantile Exchange (cents per lb.):
Lean Hogs (June 11) shed $1.20, EOD $95.30
Pork Bellies (February 12) unchanged, EOD $120.00
Live Cattle (June 11) shed $0.02, EOD $113.15
Feeder Cattle (August 11) gain $0.05, EOD $136.08
Other Commodities – Chicago Board of Trade (cents per bushel):
Corn (July 11) gain $27.50, EOD $756.75
Soybeans (November 11) gain $23.25, EOD $1,361.00