The
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)
slightly grazed negative territory this morning, but maintained its
bullish momentum throughout the afternoon to secure a
second-straight up day.
"After experiencing a pretty sizeable pullback during the past
couple of weeks, it was nice to see some of the broad-market
indices hold ground, and bounce off support levels," remarked
Schaeffer's Senior Equities Analyst Joe Bell. "Overall, we saw a
lot of strength from healthcare stocks, basic materials, and
financials. Financial stocks were also given a boost with Citigroup
Inc.'s (
C
) consensus-topping third-quarter earnings report."
Click through to see what else was on our radar today:
And now, a look at the numbers...
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 13,424.23)
BAC
T
The
S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1,440.13)
and
Nasdaq Composite (COMP - 3,064.18)
battled out of the red this morning, and claimed victories by the
time the closing bell sounded. The SPX gained 11.5 points, or 0.8%,
while the COMP added 20.1 points, or 0.7%.
The
CBOE Market Volatility Index
(VIX - 15.27)
slipped 0.9 point, or 5.4%, today, finding support at its 20-day
trendline.
Today's highlight
: "The market received some good news this morning, as September
retail sales came in better-than-expected," pointed out Bell.
"Telecom seems to be the one lone sector left out of the party.
Investors have major concerns with the competitive environment for
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and AT&T Inc. (
T
), after Japan's Softbank announced a bid to acquire a majority
stake in Sprint Nextel Corporation (S)."
Turning to today's major market stories...
For today's activity in commodities, options, and more, head
to page 2.
While supply worries continue to be weighed against global
demand concerns, crude futures were relatively flat at the close
after dipping south of the $90-per-barrel level in intraday
trading. By the end of the session, November futures gave up one
penny, closing at $91.85 a barrel, marking a third consecutive
loss.
Gold futures also slipped into the red today, but by a much
larger margin. Today's broad-market upswing, as well as a rallying
dollar, pulled the precious metal to its lowest daily close since
Sept. 12. Against this backdrop, December-dated gold lost $22.10,
or 1.3%, to settle at $1,737.60 an ounce.
Levels to watch in trading...
-
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 13,424.23)
- support at 11,500; resistance at 14,000
-
S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1,440.13)
- support at 1,100; resistance at 1,500
-
Nasdaq Composite (COMP - 3,064.18)
- support at 2,400; resistance at 3,400
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