Stocks today took a sharp turn upwards on positive news from the
EU Summit. Policymakers agreed to relax repayment conditions for
Spanish banks, which had formally requested assistance right before
the Summit. EU Officials also agreed to lower the bar to allow
Italy receive aid and proposed a $149 billion economic growth plan
for the region. The program is called the Troubled Country Relief
Program, or TCRP, and is an offshoot of the EU's Troubled Asset
Relief Program (TARP).
The gains seen in domestic markets on the news were very strong.
For every stock that went down in price, four gained on the NYSE,
even amidst weak reports on the domestic economy.
Soft income and spending news pushed the focus on the consumer
and the jobs market. Reports of personal income and outlays
disappointed across the board. Personal income was at 0.2%, meeting
the prior period's level but missing consensus estimates of 0.3%.
Consumer spending was even worse, coming in at 0.0%. While this did
match consensus estimates, spending is still down from 0.3% the
previous period. The core price index held at 0.1%, the same as the
previous period, but short of analyst predictions of 0.2%.
The Chicago PMI was reported today as well. The Business
Barometer Index came in at just 52.9. This was a modest increase
from the prior period's 52.7 but short of consensus estimates of
53.1 (range 50.0 to 55.1).
Consumer sentiment also disappointed as the Index measuring the
same dipped to new 2012 lows, at 73.2 for the final June reading.
In comparison, the Consumer Sentiment Index had stood at 74.1 in
the previous period. Analysts had estimated 74.1 for the June
period, on a range of 73.5 to 79.0.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 219.22 (+1.74%) at
12,820.26.
The S&P 500 is up 25.39 (+1.91%) at 1,354.38.
The NASDAQ Composite is up 67.29 (+2.36%) at 2,916.69.
In Europe, the markets were even more positive. The FTSE 100
index is up 94.51 (+1.72%) to 5,587.12. The DAX is up 4.0%
(-246.54) to 6,396.52 and the CAC 40 is at 3,186.41, up 4.43%
(+135.05). The DOW Global is at 1825.77, up 47.61 (+2.7%).
Crude oil prices are at $82.24 a barrel, up 4.55. Natural gas is
up 6.4 cents to $2.798 per 1 million BTU. Gold is up 48.5 to
$1,598.90 an ounce, while silver is up 1.183 to $27.43 an ounce.
Copper is up 0.15 to $3.48 a pound.
Among energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund (
USO
) is up 4.6% to around $30.90 with the United States Natural Gas (
UNG
) fund losing earlier gains. Among precious-metal funds, the Market
Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GMI) is up 2% and has hit new year highs
while SPDR Gold Shares (
GLD
) are up 2.5% to around $155. The iShares Silver Trust (
SLV
) is up 4% to $26.65.
Here's where the markets stand at mid-day:
NYSE Composite Index up 2.2% (+168.38) to 7,765.90
Dow Jones Industrial Index up 1.8% (+221.86) to 12,824.12
S&P 500 up 2.0% (+26.25) to 1,355.32
Nasdaq Composite Index up 2.4% (+69.14) to 2,918.67
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Nikkei 225 up 1.5% (+132.67) to 9,006.78
Hang Seng Index up 2.2% (+416.19) to 19,441.46
Shanghai China Composite Index up 1.4% (+29.59) to 2,225.43
FTSE 100 is up 1.84% (+101.26) to 5,593.25
NYSE SECTOR INDICES
NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.3% (+39.01) to 13,623.20
NYSE Financial Sector Index up 0.1% (+4.25) to 4,619.85
NYSE Healthcare Sector Index up 0.35% (+25.09) to 7,256.75
UPSIDE MOVERS
TAHO (+15%): Received assurances from the Guatemalan government
that the state would not be acquiring an interest in its Escobal
silver mine there as part of its mining reforms.
SSN (+10.2%): Provided operational updates on its current
projects, reporting encouraging results from the Spirit of America
#2 well project. The company said that the operational success in
the well was demonstrated by the capability of the drilling and
casing of the location.
THM (+6%): Appointed Jeffrey A. Pontius as the company's interim
chief executive officer until a new candidate is selected by the
board of directors. The board expects to announce a new CEO within
the next two months.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
UNIS (-14.9%): Priced its underwritten offering of 6,154,000
shares of common stock at a price of $3.25 per share.
ULGX (-13.2%): Priced its registered follow-on firm commitment
underwritten public offering of 5.2 million shares of its common
stock at a public offering price of $0.75 per share.
NKE (-7.5%): Posted a Q4 earnings miss Thursday night. Shares
are at $85.18 on a 52-week range of $76.98 - $114.81.