The S&P 500 had its best rally since September 27. The S&P climbed .81%. The market reversed its recent trend of falling off in the final hours of trading.
Retail sales jumped 1.1% in September. Electronics and online retailers were particularly strong for the second month in a row. These categories were strong on the launches of new smartphones.
Financials bounced back today after a rough time last week. Citgroup reported better than expected earnings before the opening today. Tomorrow the sector will see Goldman Sachs report quarterly earnings.
The homebuilding sector bounced back after some profit taking last week. All housing and mortgage related data continues to improve. Many homebuilders were up in excess of 3% today. Building products stocks also performed well.
Materials stocks performed roughly in line with the overall market. Steel stocks reversed from their losses of last week and chemical stocks were winners today also. Base metals stocks traded higher even though Goldman Sachs lowered their forecasted price for copper. They lowered estimates due to a lower forecast for construction spending in China.
Oil was again volatile today. Crude prices had wild fluctuations before crude close off 0.5%.
The healthcare sector was led by strong performance from the major pharmaceutical stocks. Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Merck all traded higher. Both Bristol Meyers and Abbott Labs release good news on the drug development front also.
Source: PFS Group
