| 12:00 ET Dow +31, Nasdaq +15, S&P +8.74: [BRIEFING.COM] Bolstered by positive earnings news from the likes of PeopleSoft (PSFT +6.05), Symantec (SYMC +6.54), Worldcom (WCOM +0.87), and BJ Services (BJS +3.96), the equity market managed to pick up where it left off yesterday… For those not aware of yesterday’s action, that would mean the market went into rally-mode and was driven by broad-based buying interest… Pacing the gains were the software, telecom and oil stocks, which was really no surprise considering the encouraging reports from the aforementioned companies… In addition, the market was aided by a growing belief the earnings trough is near for corporate America… That assumption, coupled with today’s decision by the ECB to leave rates unchanged, has prompted a shift of capital into U.S.-denominated assets, with the focus being on stocks and bonds… Helping today’s cause, too, has been an expectation that the Federal Reserve will continue its easing ways… In the wake of today’s 1.1% increase in the Employment Cost Index, and an 18K increase in jobless claims to 408K, there is little reason to believe otherwise as the former provided a benign inflation indication, whereas the latter suggesting a continued weakening in the economy… Although the indices are off their session highs, the market has been fairly resilient as selling efforts have typically been greeted with renewed buying interest… Furthermore, notable weakness has been limited largely to individual stocks, like Qualcomm (QCOM –5.67), which disappointed investors with lowered earnings guidance for its fiscal third quarter… Leading the Dow’s modest gain have been American Express (AXP +1.06), Honeywell (HON +0.99), General Electric (GE +0.95) and Home Depot (HD +0.77)… DJTA +1.7%... DJUA +1.0%... Nasdaq 100 +0.1%... S&P Midcap 400 +1.3%... Russell 2000 +1.0%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1888/986... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2012/1427. |
