The S&P 500 posted gains for the 10th time in the last 11 sessions today. The Average was up 0.42% and the Dow was higher by 0.23%. Gains were broad based today. Technology, industrials, discretionary, utilities, and telecom all outperformed. Materials and health care slightly lagged.
Internet and semiconductor stocks led the tech sector. Facebook and Amazon.com were the leaders in the Internet group. Facebook was up better than 6%. Intel was a standout in the semiconductor group. Intel has received positive commentary from several analysts over the past few trading sessions. Broadcom was another strong semiconductor name today. Several networking stocks gained better than 1% on the day.
Industrials traded in line with the tape. General Electric was strong all day and continues it strong recent run. GE closed higher by 1.3%. Agricultural equipment stocks were weak on low volume. Both homebuilders and building products were up. Building products names opened higher and stayed positive all day. Homebuilders were even stronger. Transports were mixed. Truckers were lower as some companies in the space made negative pre-announcements today. Airlines stocks were an area of strength. US Airways moved higher by more than 3% on an analyst upgrade.
Financials traded in line with the market. Online brokerage stocks continued to perform well. E*Trade moved to another fresh high on the day and is up 24% for the month. Charles Schwab gained 2.5%. Insurance stocks gained 0.75% and saw broad based strength. Money center banks trailed.
Consumer discretionary outperformed the broader market while staples slightly underperformed. Retail was an area of strength in the discretionary space. Aeropostale soared by 18% after a hedge fund reported they owned a significant stake in the name. Safeway gained 10% after they reported a major investor reported taking a 6% stake in the company. Restaurants were strong across the board with casual dining stocks leading the way.
Source: PFS Group
