| Dow Closes Within Striking Distance of 14,000 |
| Jan-29-2013 |
| Keywords: dow, 14,000, earnings, home prices, consumer confidence, amazon.com |
Stocks end the day mostly higher as investors appear determined to push the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 14,000.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average today closed up 72 points, closing at the highest level since October 2007. The blue chip index is now less than 50-points of 14,000 and just 1.4% away from its record close of 14,164.
The Nasdaq Composite ended the session with a fraction loss, down just 0.64 points. The S&P 500 closed the trading session about 8 points higher.
Pfizer led gainers on the Dow today. The drug company's stock finishing up 3.2% after topping both earnings and revenue targets.
Meanwhile Ford was a drag on the broader market. The U.S. automaker exceeded both quarterly profit and sales estimates. But its forecast for a $2 billion 2013 loss in its European operations led to a 4.6% drop in the company's stock.
Losses on the Nasdaq Composite were minimized by gains in its largest component Apple. Apple gained 1.9% on news its planning to unveil a new version of its 4th generation iPad, geared toward the corporate market. It is unclear how successful the enterprise will be without Microsoft's Windows operating system. But there is speculation that that may be a part of next week's announcement.
Investors today got some great news on housing. Case Shiller reporting that home prices in November rose inline with estimates, up a seasonally adjusted 0.6%. Year over year, prices jumped a stronger than expected 5.5%.
That news helped the market shrug off a steeper than expected drop in consumer confidence. The Conference Board's reading on consumer confidence in January fell to 58.6, the lowest level since November 2011. Some economists are attributing the steep drop to Americans contending with a 2% across the board tax hike resulting from the Fiscal Cliff deal struck earlier this month.
Rising tension in the Middle East contributed to supply concerns in the crude oil market. The March crude oil contract rose 1.2% to settle at a four-month high of $97.57 a barrel.
And Amazon.com's quarterly report garnering a lot of attention in after hours trading. Amazon late today posted earnings and revenue that fell short of Wall Street targets. However, a 56% surge in Amazon's operating profit drove the company's stock up double digits in electronic trading. |
|
|
Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 11:00 AM Email to a friend |
| < Back to Today's Issues |
|
 |
|
|
|
