Markets are up across the board today with gains being realized
in domestic and foreign markets alike. European stocks were a
little higher, the euro was steady against the dollar and Spanish
and Italian bond yields were steady as investors waited eagerly for
Thursday's European Union summit. In the US, markets are getting
some push upwards from today's economic data.
Durable goods have disappointed as of late, reporting down
numbers in two of the last three reports. But today's report showed
improvement. New factory orders were up 1.1%, beating prior levels
of 0.2% and surpassing consensus estimates of 0.4% (range -1.0% to
1.0%). However, new orders are at 4.6% for the year, which is under
the previous level of 6.9%. Excluding transportation, the results
were less robust. New orders excluding transportation came in at
0.4% for the month, beating the previous month's -0.6% but falling
short of the consensus estimate of 0.8% (range -0.5% to 1.5%).
Ex-transportation year over year also came in low, at 3.8% on prior
levels of 6.3%.
There was more good news today from the housing sector, as the
pending home sales index rose from a prior level of 95.5 to 101.1.
At 5.9%, it well surpassed both the previous level of -5.5% and
consensus estimates of 1.2% (range -1.6% to 4.0%). Moreover, the
gain was realized relatively evenly across regions, rather than
being centered in one geographic location.
Refineries are also in high gear, reaching 92.6% operating
capacity in the June 22 week. They are producing 9.3 million
barrels of gasoline a day, which is the second highest level of the
year (a few weeks back, it hit 9.6 million barrels per day), adding
an additional 2.1 million barrels this week, up from a weekly
change of 0.9 million barrels last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 88.48 (+0.71%) at
12,623.15.
The NASDAQ Composite is up 24.9 (+0.87%) at 2,878.96.
The S&P 500 is up 11.86 (+0.9%) at 1,331.85.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index is up 76.96 +(1.41%) to 5,523.92.
The DAX is up 1.50% (+92.30) to 6,228.99 and the CAC 40 is at
3,063.12, up 1.67% (+50.41).
Crude oil prices are at $80.15 a barrel, up 0.79. Natural gas is
up 7.8 cents to $2.899 per 1 million BTU. Gold is down 2.7 to
$1,572.20 an ounce, while silver is down 0.203 to $26.835 an ounce.
Copper is up 0.03 to $3.35 a pound.
Among energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund (
USO
) is up 1.4% to $30.23 with the United States Natural Gas (
UNG
) fund up 3.3% to $19.81. Among precious-metal funds, the Market
Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GMI) is down 0.50% to $44.21 while SPDR
Gold Shares (
GLD
) are up 0.08% to $152.73. The iShares Silver Trust (
SLV
) is down 0.7% to $26.11.
Here's where the markets stand at mid-day:
NYSE Composite Index up 0.81% (+60.74) to 7,588.87
Dow Jones Industrial Index up 0.67% (+83.44) to 12,618.11
S&P 500 up 0.87% (+11.45) to 1,331.49
Nasdaq Composite Index up 0.82% (+23.34) to 2,877.24
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Nikkei 225 up 0.77% (+66.50) to 8,730.49
Hang Seng Index up 1.03% (+195.11) to 19,176.95
Shanghai China Composite Index down 0.23% (-5.13) to
2,216.93
FTSE 100 is up 1.41% (+76.96) to 5,523.92
NYSE SECTOR INDICES
NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.29% (+39.01) to 13,623.20
NYSE Financial Sector Index up 0.09% (+4.25) to 4,619.85
NYSE Healthcare Sector Index up 0.35% (+25.09) to 7,256.75
UPSIDE MOVERS
ECTY (+42.2%): Announced its partnership with Changchun
Eco-Power Technology Co., Ltd. to address China's recently adopted
"12th Five-Year Plan" for developing the nation's EV industry.
NSPH (+8.4%): Won FDA approval of test for bacteria in
bloodstream
GEOY (+5%): Up despite Moody's downgrade of the company's credit
rating to B- from B+. The agency also lowered all issue-level
ratings of the company by two notches.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
GEVO (-18.7%): Intends to offer and sell, subject to market and
other conditions, shares of its common stock and convertible senior
notes due 2022.
ALXA (-7.2%): Disclosed late Tuesday that it will sell up to $40
million of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities,
warrants, or any combination thereof in a mixed shelf offering.
AXK (-4.4%): Appointed Lawrence Mehren as President and Chief
Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors