SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - U.S. stocks are poised to extend their stunning year-end rally in the coming week as more evidence that the economy is headed for a soft landing is expected to come out as well as higher earnings from the likes of Morgan Stanley and Oracle Corp.
Revived hopes for a rate cut - or least a continuation of a pause in the central bank's campaign to raise interest rates - pushed blue-chip shares to two record closing highs this past week after the Fed left rates unchanged, and took the S&P 500 Index to its highest level since the end of 2000.
"We will see some profit taking and some choppy trading until December 31," said James Park, managing director at Rodman & Renshaw, "but my bias is toward the upside."
The last full week of trading of the year will feature another raft of economic data. Housing starts, durable goods, and the central's banks preferred reading on inflation, the core personal consumer expenditure index, are on tap.
The Christmas holiday on Monday, Dec. 25 will shorten the final week of equity trading.
Yah moving as predicted har.. great as mentioned on OCT, if Dow didnt correct at OCT, than it will be on the way to a super rally till 12800 -13300 by May.. at this rate it is going, it will be reaching the target by Feb..
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 43 points to 12,460, just off a fresh record of 12,468.
The S&P 500 rose 3.8 points to 1,429, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 15 points to 2,469.
The U.S. consumer price index was unchanged, and the core index, which excludes food and energy prices, was also unchanged in November, while economists expected both readings of the CPI to rise 0.2%. See full story.
Earlier this week, the Fed said it judged inflation risks to be its greatest concern, as it held interest rates steady at 5.25%.
The market has been hoping that the Fed would stop focusing on inflation, and leave the door open to cut rates to stave off a slowing economy.
"I would think that with the data we just got, and this rallying market trend, we can mirror yesterday's rally," said Barry Hyman, market strategist at EKN Financial.
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher Thursday with the Dow setting another record close after bullish forecasts from some major companies, such as Honeywell International Inc., offsetting an upcoming cut in oil production.
"This is a good environment for stocks, almost a perfect environment for stocks," Hyman said, noting that the expiration of options on Friday will likely add to the bullish environment.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting record highs, as investors focused on positive earnings forecasts from some household names and shrugged off a likely cut in oil production by the world's biggest producers.
Energy shares also helped, with crude back above $62 a barrel amid reports that OPEC has a pact to cut output by another half a million a barrels a day, though it will defer implementation until Feb. 1.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures edged lower Thursday morning, as a rising dollar offset the positive impact of higher oil prices tied to a report that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has informally agreed to cut output again.
"While the metal has found strong support at the $623 chart level, the lack of fresh dollar weakness is putting the breaks on the metals rally, suggesting further consolidation short-term around $625-$635," said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com, in a note to clients.
Gold for February delivery was last down $1.20 at $631.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In Wednesday's trading, the contract closed higher, buoyed by rising oil prices.
Wow! An unexpected rally today in US! Dow up 74 points and Nasdaq up 26 points now.
Yup, Maxsyn .... Very possible for Dow to clear above 12,400 mark tomolo cos heavy-weight data will be out below:
2130hrs: Consumer price index 2130hrs: CPI ex. food & energy 2130hrs: NY empire state index 2215hrs: Capacity utilization 2215hrs: Industrial production
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