The S&P 500 rose for the sixth straight week, the longest rally since August of last year. It ended up 0.57% today and the Dow was higher by 0.35%. The S&P 500 reached the bottom of the trading range yesterday and rallied. Today the market reached the top of the trading range and backed off.
Data released today showed that the trade deficit narrowed by more than expected in December on the strength of record exports of petroleum in the fourth quarter. Technology was the leading sector in the market today with a broad based rally led by an increase of better than 1% in Apple. The semiconductor sector also saw gains today. Internet shares rose on the strength of better than expected earnings from LinkedIn. Old world technology name AOL rose by more than 7% on better than expected earnings.
McDonald’s rose today after they reported better than expected same store sales. Sales in the U.S. were much better than expected while sales in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Arica were below expectations.
Boeing was the worst performer in the Dow today, declining by more than 1%. Boeing told airlines that there may be a delivery delay in the new 787 Dreamliners as regulators investigate overheating batteries.
Overall trading was light as snowstorm Nemo closed in on the east coast. Many investors and traders in New York and Boston concluded the week early and attempted to get home before the storm hit.
Source: PFS Group
