MARKET SNAPSHOT: Dow Rallies Nearly 200 Points As Banks, Tech Stocks March Higher
May 24 2016 - 10:30AM
Dow Jones News
By Anora Mahmudova and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
New home sales surge in April
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by nearly 200 points as
a rally in financial and technology shares underpinned a sharp,
broad-based stock-market advance.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 191 points, or 1%, to
17,684, with all 30 blue-chip components trading higher, led by
financial firms American Express Co. (AXP), Visa Inc. (V), J.P.
Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Goldman Sachs Group (GS), which
were leading the Dow.
The S&P 500 index climbed 21 points, or 1%, to 2,069, with
all 10 main sectors in positive territory. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq
Composite Index rose 60 points, or 1.3%, to 4,827.
Tuesday's advance comes on the heels of hawkish minutes from the
Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting and comments from several
officials that rate hikes may come as soon as next month.
The market sees a 30% chance of a June hike and a 46% chance of
a July move, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool
(http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/interest-rates/countdown-to-fomc.html).
"Today's big jump is purely a technical bounce and if we hold
above the 50-day moving average, which we just crossed over, we
might see some more upside in the market," said Lance Roberts,
chief investment strategist at Clarity Financial, LLC.
Roberts noted that the big positive moves over the past few
months tended to be erased by equally big negative moves, while the
market is trapped in a range.
"The 2,040 seems to be a resistance level and breaking below
that would mean further weakness in the market. The path of least
resistance right now is a trend lower," Roberts said.
Other markets:Oil futures
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-stay-in-the-doldrums-on-supply-growth-concerns-2016-05-24)
traded modestly higher. European stocks
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-turn-higher-led-by-gains-for-banks-2016-05-24)
advanced, led by gains for banks. Asian markets closed mostly down
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asia-stocks-retreat-on-weak-commodity-prices-uncertainty-over-fed-moves-2016-05-24),
with blame be assigned to weak commodity prices and uncertainty
over the timing of the next U.S. interest-rate increase. Gold
futures lost ground, and the ICE U.S. Dollar Index gained
ground.
Check out: This financial sector's boom in China could end with
a bust
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-latest-scary-china-chart-this-financial-sectors-boom-could-end-with-a-bust-2016-05-24)
Economic news: New homes surged in April, a sign that builders
are stepping up as demand for housing remains robust. Markets
continued their advance after the data.
Company news: Ahead of the open, Toll Brothers posted quarterly
profit and revenue that topped expectations
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/toll-brothers-profit-jumps-in-second-quarter-beating-views-2016-05-24).
Shares gained in premarket trading.
Best Buy's quarterly results beat forecasts, but the company's
guidance disappointed
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/best-buy-shares-sink-after-weak-guidance-2016-05-24)
and shares fell premarket.
Shares of Kohl's Corp. (KSS) rose after a video of a woman who
bought Chewbacca mask at the store went viral, getting more than
140 million views on Facebook.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 24, 2016 10:15 ET (14:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.