US markets closed
Tapering is ON...finally.. US Markets Higher closing news 12/18/13
US equity markets rose to near all-time highs on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced plans reduce its monthly asset purchases by $10 billion, bringing them down to $75 billion. The FOMC said the reductions, to begin in January, will be trimmed equally from mortgage and Treasury bonds.
Stocks initially dropped on the news, but quickly moved back into positive territory. Bond prices experienced similar volatility, sliding at first but bouncing back shortly after. All major S&P sectors were positive with Healthcare, Telecom, and Financials leading the charge higher. Technology however was the notable laggard. Gold slipped while the dollar rose against the euro and the yen.
In other economic news, the Commerce Department reported earlier today that US housing starts jumped 22.7 % to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million units. It was the highest level since February 2008 and the biggest increase since January 1990.
Market Indices/Statistics:
Dow Jones closed up 292.71 pts/ +1.84% to 16,167.97; 29 of the 30 Dow Jones stocks closed higher.
S&P closed up 29.65 pts/ +1.66% to 1,810.65; all of the 10 S&P 500 sectors closed higher.
Nasdaq closed up 46.38 pts/ +1.15% to 4,070.06
Healthcare were the strongest sector (+2.41%), Technology were the weakest (+0.76%)
The VIX is down 2.37 at 13.83
Gold is down 12.12 to 1217.2
Oil is up 0.46 to 97.93
Nat Gas is down 0.018 to 4.268
Yen vs. Dollar is up 1.40 to 104.06
Euro vs. Dollar is down 0.0075 to 1.3690
The ICE Dollar Index (USDX) is up 0.47 to 80.50
Top Headlines:
Shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F, $15.65) fell 6.29% in heavy volume trading after the carmaker said its target for global automotive operating margin of between 8% and 9% is at risk, due to economic conditions in Europe and South America, and it expects North American pretax profit to be lower in 2014 than in 2013.
Valassis Communications Inc. (NYSE: VCI, $34.60, +22.36%) announced on Wednesday that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement with private company Harland Clarke Holdings, who will acquire all the outstanding shares of Valassis for $34.04 per share in cash, representing a transaction value of approximately $1.84B.
Lennar Corp (NYSE: LEN, $37.43) rose 6.34% after the No.3 U.S. homebuilder reported a 32% jump in quarterly profit and a 42% jump in total revenue. Lennar said orders rose 13% to 4,498 homes.
Jabil Circuit Inc (NYSE: JBL, $15.67, -20.54%) experienced a sharp drop on Wednesday after the electronics maker forecast Q2 guidance well below Wall Street estimates. Jabil forecast second-quarter core earnings of 5-15 cents per share on revenue of $3.5-$3.7 billion while analysts were expecting earnings of 52 cents per share on revenue of $4.28 billion.
More articles on US markets closed
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Ride The Bull Short The Bear
CS Tan
4.9 / 5.0
This book is the result of the author's many years of experience and observation throughout his 26 years in the stockbroking industry. It was written for general public to learn to invest based on facts and not on fantasies or hearsay....
hemkuku
every bit of news, every incident, every maneuver is up to how the market movers (read: the rich and the elite that holds sway over the sweating masses) wants us to interpret it. "Tapering" - a bad word for the past few months has now suddenly become a good word, a sign of better times, a sign for bulls to stampede. What a mess up world rampant capitalism has created.
2013-12-19 08:48