MARKET ROUNDUP

U.S. Stocks Advance on Better-Than-Estimated Earnings
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX) rose 0.4 percent to 1,492.51 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 62.51 points, or 0.5 percent, to 13,712.21. About 6.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, or about in line with the three-month average. The S&P 500 has risen 4.7 percent in January for the best start to a year since 1997. The benchmark gauge surged to the highest level since December 2007 last week as companies including General Electric Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported better-than-estimated earnings. Some 72 percent of the 76 companies in the benchmark index that have released results so far exceeded projections, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Home Sales
Sales of U.S. existing homes unexpectedly fell 1 percent to a 4.94 million annual rate last month, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington.

Oil Rises as Global Investor Confidence Increases
As German investor confidence climbed more than economists expected and a Bloomberg survey showed that international optimism about equities gained. Crude oil for February delivery rose 68 cents to $96.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since Sept. 17. February futures expired today. The more-active March contract gained 64 cents to settle at $96.68.

Jupiter Securities Research - 23 January 2013