Dow at record over 12,500
Enviado: 29/12/2006 15:55By Jennifer Coogan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks staged a broad rally on Wednesday, with the Dow rising above 12,500 to end at a record, as investors rushed to invest cash in the equities market before the end of the year. Shares of U.S. home builders, the second worst-performing S&P sub-sector, gained after a government report showed sales of new U.S. homes rose a stronger-than-expected 3.4 percent in November, suggesting that the housing market may have reached a bottom.
The stock of Ford Motor Co. <F.N>, a laggard this year in the S&P 500, climbed after a meeting between its chief executive and the chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. <7203.T> stirred investors' hopes for a potential alliance between the automakers.
The year's final five trading days and January's first two trading days traditionally rank among the strongest. Those seven days, on average, have resulted in a 1.6 percent overall gain in the stock market every year since 1969, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.
"There's a general tone of optimism that we will have a good January. A lot of 401(k) matches occur at the end of December and there is some 'window dressing' going on," said Jim Hardesty, president of Baltimore-based Hardesty Capital Management. "It would be embarrassing to have a 25 percent cash position on December 29th after this huge run-up we've had."
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> jumped 102.94 points, or 0.83 percent, to end at a record 12,510.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> advanced 9.94 points, or 0.70 percent, to finish at 1,426.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 17.71 points, or 0.73 percent, to close at 2,431.22.
FOR 2006, DOUBLE-DIGIT GAINS IN SIGHT
All three major U.S. stock indexes are poised to finish the year with double-digit percentage gains.
Wednesday's session marked the Dow's 22nd record close since the start of October. Earlier in the day, the blue-chip Dow average hit a fresh intraday high at 12,519.22.
All but one of the 30 Dow components ended the session higher.
Trading was extremely light on the New York Stock Exchange, with only about 974.7 million shares changing hands -- far below last year's daily average of 1.61 billion. On Nasdaq, about 1.26 billion shares traded, below last year's daily average of 1.80 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of more than 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq.
IBM AND HOME BUILDERS SHINE
The Dow got its biggest lift from International Business Machines Corp.<IBM.N>, up 1.5 percent, or $1.44, at $97.10 on the NYSE, following a brokerage upgrade.
ThinkEquity Partners raised its recommendation on IBM to "buy" from "sell," citing the company's strong software sales as well as better performance and profitability in IBM's global services segement.
Shares of Lennar Corp.<LEN.N>, the third-largest U.S. home builder, rose 2.7 percent, or $1.36, to $52.61. The stock of luxury home builder Toll Brothers advanced 1.9 percent, or 60 cents, to $32.29.
The Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index <.DJUSHB> was up 1.9 percent.
VROOM! FORD AND GOOGLE, TOO
Although Toyota said the executives did not discuss the possibility of forming an alliance, the U.S.-listed shares of Toyota <TM.N> shot up 2 percent, or $2.65, to $134.26 and Ford's stock gained 1.2 percent, or 9 cents, to close at $7.58 on the NYSE.
Shares of Ford's bigger rival General Motors Corp. <GM.N> climbed 2.8 percent, or 82 cents, to $30.59, making GM one of the Dow's largest advancers.
The Nasdaq was buoyed by Google Inc. <GOOG.O>, up 2.3 percent, or $10.50, at $468.03.
Also helping the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index were shares of Apple Computer Inc. <AAPL.O>, which recovered from an intraday drop of more than 5 percent on investors' worries related to a media report that federal prosecutors were looking closely at "apparently falsified" stock option documents at the company.
Analysts shrugged off the concerns, saying the options probe would not affect the financial results of Apple, the maker of iPod digital music players and Mac computers.
Apple shares ended the session 1 cent higher at $81.52.
Friday December 29, 2006 9:46am ET -- U.S. Markets Open
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks staged a broad rally on Wednesday, with the Dow rising above 12,500 to end at a record, as investors rushed to invest cash in the equities market before the end of the year. Shares of U.S. home builders, the second worst-performing S&P sub-sector, gained after a government report showed sales of new U.S. homes rose a stronger-than-expected 3.4 percent in November, suggesting that the housing market may have reached a bottom.
The stock of Ford Motor Co. <F.N>, a laggard this year in the S&P 500, climbed after a meeting between its chief executive and the chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. <7203.T> stirred investors' hopes for a potential alliance between the automakers.
The year's final five trading days and January's first two trading days traditionally rank among the strongest. Those seven days, on average, have resulted in a 1.6 percent overall gain in the stock market every year since 1969, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.
"There's a general tone of optimism that we will have a good January. A lot of 401(k) matches occur at the end of December and there is some 'window dressing' going on," said Jim Hardesty, president of Baltimore-based Hardesty Capital Management. "It would be embarrassing to have a 25 percent cash position on December 29th after this huge run-up we've had."
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> jumped 102.94 points, or 0.83 percent, to end at a record 12,510.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> advanced 9.94 points, or 0.70 percent, to finish at 1,426.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 17.71 points, or 0.73 percent, to close at 2,431.22.
FOR 2006, DOUBLE-DIGIT GAINS IN SIGHT
All three major U.S. stock indexes are poised to finish the year with double-digit percentage gains.
Wednesday's session marked the Dow's 22nd record close since the start of October. Earlier in the day, the blue-chip Dow average hit a fresh intraday high at 12,519.22.
All but one of the 30 Dow components ended the session higher.
Trading was extremely light on the New York Stock Exchange, with only about 974.7 million shares changing hands -- far below last year's daily average of 1.61 billion. On Nasdaq, about 1.26 billion shares traded, below last year's daily average of 1.80 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of more than 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq.
IBM AND HOME BUILDERS SHINE
The Dow got its biggest lift from International Business Machines Corp.<IBM.N>, up 1.5 percent, or $1.44, at $97.10 on the NYSE, following a brokerage upgrade.
ThinkEquity Partners raised its recommendation on IBM to "buy" from "sell," citing the company's strong software sales as well as better performance and profitability in IBM's global services segement.
Shares of Lennar Corp.<LEN.N>, the third-largest U.S. home builder, rose 2.7 percent, or $1.36, to $52.61. The stock of luxury home builder Toll Brothers advanced 1.9 percent, or 60 cents, to $32.29.
The Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index <.DJUSHB> was up 1.9 percent.
VROOM! FORD AND GOOGLE, TOO
Although Toyota said the executives did not discuss the possibility of forming an alliance, the U.S.-listed shares of Toyota <TM.N> shot up 2 percent, or $2.65, to $134.26 and Ford's stock gained 1.2 percent, or 9 cents, to close at $7.58 on the NYSE.
Shares of Ford's bigger rival General Motors Corp. <GM.N> climbed 2.8 percent, or 82 cents, to $30.59, making GM one of the Dow's largest advancers.
The Nasdaq was buoyed by Google Inc. <GOOG.O>, up 2.3 percent, or $10.50, at $468.03.
Also helping the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index were shares of Apple Computer Inc. <AAPL.O>, which recovered from an intraday drop of more than 5 percent on investors' worries related to a media report that federal prosecutors were looking closely at "apparently falsified" stock option documents at the company.
Analysts shrugged off the concerns, saying the options probe would not affect the financial results of Apple, the maker of iPod digital music players and Mac computers.
Apple shares ended the session 1 cent higher at $81.52.
Friday December 29, 2006 9:46am ET -- U.S. Markets Open