Markets Off To A Good Start U.S. stocks are up this morning, lifting the Nasdaq Composite into positive territory for the month, as investors considered corporate earnings, an unexpected drop in orders for durable goods and the anticipated end of the Federal Reserves latest round of quantitative easing. So far most of the major earnings have beat expectations, and we have consumer confidence coming out, which is a key market driver. Twitter shares fell after the social network matched earnings estimates and beat on revenue forecasts, but offered user metrics that disappointed investors; Pfizer edged higher after the pharmaceutical company topped earnings and revenue expectations but narrowed its earnings forecast for the full year. Orders for goods meant to last at least three years declined 1.3 percent in September. A second report had U.S. single-family home prices rising in August on a year-over-year basis but still falling short of expectations. Another report at 10 a.m. Eastern could show consumer confidence climbed in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 49.57 points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,867.51, with Caterpillar leading blue-chip gains. The S&P 500 rose 7.96 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,969.59, with industrials the best performing of its 10 major sectors. The Nasdaq added 27.88 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,513.82. For every share falling, roughly two gained on the New York Stock Exchange, where 73 million shares traded by 9:45 a.m. Eastern. Composite volume surpassed 267 million. The U.S. dollar declined against the currencies of major trading partners; the yield on the 10 year Treasury note used to figure mortgage rates gained a basis point to 2.277 percent. Commodities were mixed, with crude oil futures for December delivery falling 22 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $80.80 a barrel and gold futures for December rising a $1.10, or 0.1 percent, to $1,230.40 an ounce. Steven Sitkowski, Investment Educator, Speaker & Author protraderinstitute
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 19:52:18 +0000
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