Energy sectors helps stocks end modestly higher
US stocks ended with little gains on Wednesday, 29 December 2010. Stocks traded with modest gains throughout the day but a late sell off pushed stocks lower and stocks had to pare their intra day gains partly. There was no economic or earning report scheduled for the day. The dollar continued to stay weak.
For the day, that ended on Wednesday, 29 December 2010, Dow ended higher by 9.84 points (0.08%) at 11,585.38. Nasdaq ended higher by 4.05 points (0.15%) at 2,666.93. S&P 500 ended higher by 1.27 points (0.1%) at 1,259.78. Dow was trading higher by 43 points earlier in the day. Seventeen out of thirty Dow components ended higher for the day led by Mc Donalds.
Six out of ten economic sectors ended higher led by energy, materials, and healthcare sectors. Financials and utilities ended lower. Consumer staples sector ended unchanged.
As an overall group energy stocks boasted some of the biggest gains of the day. They were only up narrowly in the early going, but ended the day modestly higher. The sector was largely led by drillers and equipment plays.
In the currency market on Wednesday, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, slipped by 0.4%. Earlier in the day, the greenback trailed the basket of competing currencies by 0.8%. Year-to-date, the dollar index is up 2.4%, but the euro is down 7.7% and the yen is up 13.9%.
Yesterday, data showed that Conference Board's December Consumer Confidence Index, fell to 52.5 from 54.3 in the prior month. The latest tally was also below the 56.1 that had been expected.
Advancers outran decliners 19 to 11 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume hit 520 million shares, just over half of the 30-day average.
Treasuries attempted to recover the losses sustained during the prior session with a strong rally today. The benchmark 10-year Note gained more than a point so that its yield was at 3.34% by the end of the day. Buying came in response to results from an auction of 7-year Notes.
Crude prices ended modestly lower on Wednesday, 29 December 2010 at Nymex. Prices dropped despite a slipping dollar. Prices went down following demand concerns and mixed economic data that hit the wires earlier in the week. On Wednesday, crude oil futures for light sweet crude for January delivery closed lower by $0.35 (0.4%) at $91.14/barrel. Natural gas prices were able to pare early losses and finish flat at $4.29 per MMBtu.
Precious metals ended substantially higher on Wednesday, 29 December 2010 at Comex. Prices shot up and struck almost record highs as investors sought safety in metals as a hedge against inflation. On Wednesday, gold for February delivery rose by $6.6 (0.5%) ending at $1,413.5 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. December Comex silver futures ended higher by $0.38 (1.25%) at $30.7. It was an all time record price for silver in more than three decades.
Indian ADRs ended mostly higher on Wednesday. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Tata Motors were the main gainers soaring 2.3%, 1.4%, and 1.2% respectively.
For tomorrow, initial and continuing claims together with weekly inventory report from the energy department are the only ones expected. No earning report is scheduled though.
