Close Dow +337.77 at 10898, Nasdaq +274.05 at 2889, S&P +51.57 at 1376: It seemed too good to be true, but the market managed to jump three hurdles in a single-bound today... In doing so, the Nasdaq leapt to its largest single-day percentage gain-- and point gain-- ever, fueled by the resurgence of its big-cap leaders... The latter paced a 12% rally in the Nasdaq 100, and along with the financial and transport sectors, led the broader market rally...
The foundation for the strong session was established after the closing bell yesterday when Leon County Circuit Court Judge N. Sanders Sauls denied the Gore campaign's motion to recount 14,000 votes in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties... Although the Florida Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of that decision (oral arguments slated for Thursday), there was little disruption in today's bullish bias as traders appeared to be comfortable with the idea that an end to the election process, and a likely Bush victory, were imminent...
That realization got the market off to a solid start, but the bullish bias became entrenched after a mid-morning speech from Alan Greenspan who noted the pace of U.S. growth had slowed appreciably and that the stock market wealth effect had been largely reversed... Traders were quick to take these admissions as a sign that the Fed will be shifting its policy directive to neutral at its Dec. 19 FOMC meeting, and that an eventual easing would be coming sooner rather than later... The continued deterioration in oil prices bolstered that expectation and provided the market with its third rallying point of the session... Crude prices dropped $1.69 to $29.53/bbl, and they have now fallen 14% in the past week...
This breakdown has weighed heavily on the oil-related issues which were among the few laggards in today's activity... Other groups that underperformed were mostly considered to be defensive in nature and included the utility, food, beverage, consumer goods, drug store, and gold shares... Election-related short covering and Greenspan's conciliatory comments also sparked an eye-popping rally in the Treasury market as the long-bond jumped 49 ticks, lowering its yield to 5.59%... While there were several big-time winners in the Dow, none came close to matching the performance of J.P. Morgan (JPM +13 1/8) and 3M (MMM +11 5/8)...
Both benefitted from interest rate expectations, but the latter got added support from its announcement that it named W. James McNerney, a former GE executive, as its new CEO... In encouraging fashion, the market closed the session on a strong note that was punctuated by heavy volume at the NYSE and Nasdaq... XOI -10.86, S&P Midcap 400 +3.7%, DJTA +75.90, DJUA -2.41, DOT +41.91, SOX +55.93, Russell 2000 +4.6%, NYSE Adv/Dec 2076/841, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2783/1201
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In Play® from Briefing.com
3:48PM Splits : Tomorrow, the following stocks will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis: ITWO, SUNW. See our Splits Calendar for more dates, ratios and a complete calendar.
3:47PM Earnings : After the close today, the following companies are expected to release earnings: AZO, CWST, CMVT, SOFN. Tomorrow before the open: LIT is among those expected to post results. See our Earnings Calendar for more information.
3:17PM Adv. Fibre Comm (AFCI) 19 9/16 -2 15/16: -- Update -- Lehman Brothers out in defense of stock, knocking down two rumors that were hurting the stock -- Lehman says that company has not cancelled from the Lehman conference because they were never scheduled to present at the conference, and that it is unlikely that AFCI will preannounce.
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