The major indices hovered just in positive territory most of the day, but got a boost in the last hour to finish with solid gains. Volume was huge, nearing 3 billion shares on the NYSE today, but it’s likely that the options expiration and S&P maneuvering had something to do with that. The price action certainly wasn’t interesting enough to draw that kind of attention.
The Dow Industrials were up 83 points (+0.8%) to 10641. The S&P 500 gained 10 points (+0.8%) to 1238 and the Nasdaq added 14 points (+0.7%) to 2160. The Russell 2000 was higher by 7 points (+1.0%) to 672, the Dow Transports were up 1.0% and the Utilities up 1.1%. Bonds had another rough time of it, moving yields higher yet again: the 5-year moved up to 4.05% and the 10-year to 4.26%.
Market internals were positive, with advances/declines at about 3 to 2 on both exchanges. Up/down volume was nearly 7 to 3 on the NYSE and 3 to 2 on the Nasdaq. Both new highs and new lows picked up, at 270/103 on the NYSE and 216/106 on the Nasdaq.
Most groups were higher today, led again by the gold & silver stocks, which were up another 3.8%. They were followed by computer hardware (+2.8%), disk drives (+2.0%), airlines (+2.0%), banks (+1.9%), steel stocks (+1.8%) and brokers (+1.1%). The only groups to lose significant ground on the day were the housing stocks (-1.6%).
Crude oil prices also helped the market, falling $1.75 to $63.00/barrel. Gasoline prices also fell. The dollar index fell 0.1% to 88.04. The price of gold moved up to $459/ounce.
BMB Note: So, here we sit. If we look at the major indices, we’re right back where we were in mid-July. The S&P is just a few points off its August highs - but it doesn’t really feel like it, does it? As far as the various sectors are concerned, some are still in pretty good shape, and some are not in good shape at all. People are catching their breath because oil has pulled back - but it’s still at $63/barrel. The price of gold is pushing to levels not seen in 17 years, and gold stocks have been beating the pants off the rest of the market. It could be an interesting next few weeks…after all, the Fed makes their next call on interest rates on Tuesday. I’m going to make a guess that the Fed stands pat - doesn’t raise rates - and the market gets another bump higher. The big question is whether it holds or not. You can bet that the dollar will take a hit if that happens though, and that could push gold even higher.
Or I could be completely wrong.