Stock Market Summary

4:30 pm

A couple of pleasing economic reports brought about a barrage of broad-based buying today. That drove both the Dow and S&P 500 (SPX) (SPX) to multi-month highs, while the Nasdaq notched its best level in more than a decade.

Market participants turned bullish with the release of the official payrolls report for January. The unemployment rate surprised many by falling to 8.3% from 8.5%, which is where most economists had expected it to remain. Behind the headline number, nonfarm payrolls jumped by 243,000 when an increase of 155,000 had been widely expected. Private payrolls climbed by 257,000 when an increase of 168,000 was what many economists had forecasted.

The ISM Service Index jumped in January to 56.8 from 52.6 in the prior month, exceeding the 53.1 that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Qwoter.com.

December factory orders climbed 1.1%, which is less than the 1.5% increase that had been widely expected, but the report was given less regard since fourth quarter GDP data was already released last week.

Buying was aggressive in the early going, but action in the afternoon became quiet. Still, a steady bid allowed stocks to enter a consolidative, sideways drift.

Financials scored the strongest gains. Their near 3% rally fed a weekly gain of more than 4%. The sector's strong finish to this week's trade contrasted its start, which featured a 1.0% loss on Monday.

The S&P 500 advanced more than 2% for the week. That stands as its fifth consecutive weekly gain, including an incrementally higher finish last week. Stocks haven't had such a strong streak of gains since the S&P 500 scored seven straight weekly gains to round out 2010 and start 2011.

Climbs of the past several weeks may have lacked share volume, but investors concerned only with portfolio growth will likely be pleased that the S&P 500 settled at its highest level since summer, the Dow booked its best close since 2008, and the Nasdaq is now at its highest level since late 2000.

Amid the stock market's strength, the Volatility Index has tumbled to its lowest level in seven months. At about 17, it is down more than 25% year to date.

Participants were generally less risk averse today, but the dollar didn't suffer from any kind of a concerted selling effort. Although it was unable to sustain a gain, it was flat against a collection of competing currencies by session's end.

Treasuries were trounced, however. The benchmark 10-year Note was dropped a full point. That took its yield back to where it started the week.

Action among stocks was more varied before trade commenced Friday. Earnings in focus included better-than-expected results from Dow Chemical (DOW) (DOW 34.18, +0.64), Qualcomm (QCOM) (QCOM 61.06, +0.33), MasterCard (MA) (MA 390.32, +8.75), Cardinal Health (CAH) (CAH 42.05, -0.17), Seagate Tech (STX 26.42, +0.67), Broadcom (BRCM 37.67, +0.67), Whirlpool (WHR 68.66, +4.30), Pfizer (PFE) (PFE 21.20, +0.09), and Eli Lilly (LLY 39.51, -0.09). Exxon Mobil (XOM) (XOM 84.92, +1.39) had in-line earnings results, while Amazon.com (AMZN) (AMZN 187.68, +5.96), Boston Scientific (BSX) (BSX 6.03, +0.19), and CIGNA (CI 43.55, -0.58) came short of what Wall Street had expected of their earnings.

Retailers were out with monthly same-store sales results, but overall numbers were uninspiring. Gap (GPS 21.71, +0.19) and Target (TGT) (TGT 52.14, +0.14) were among those that exceeded expectations, but Macy's (M 36.12, +0.89) and Nordstrom (JWN 50.27, +1.16) were among those that disappointed.

Social network outfit Facebook made headlines by filing for an initial public offering that some estimate will value the company up to $100 billion. That would more than quadruple the $23 billion valuation that Google (GOOG) (GOOG 596.33, +11.22) garnered in its IPO.

Market participants also had plenty of data to digest this week. Given the significance of the payrolls report on Friday, only modest attention was given to the latest weekly initial jobless claims tally. It showed that 367,000 claims were filed. That's less than the 375,000 initial claims that had been broadly expected.

The ADP Employment Change gave market participants a mid-week preview of the official payrolls report. It suggested that private payrolls increased in January by 170,000, which is less than the increase of 200,000 that many economists had expected.

The ISM Manufacturing Index improved in January to 54.1 from 53.1 in the prior month, but many had expected it to make a slightly stronger climb to 54.5. China reported mixed manufacturing data, but a handful of major eurozone members reported incremental improvements in their PMI Manufacturing readings.

The latest Chicago PMI fell to 60.2 in January from 62.5 in the prior month, contrasting the consensus forecast for a modest improvement to 62.8. The Consumer Confidence Index for January also proved disappointing. It fell to 61.1 from 64.8 in the prior month, clashing with expectations for an improvement to 67.0.

In the wake of last week's Advance fourth quarter GDP report personal spending data for December caused little stir. It was unchanged for the month. That's not too different than the expected increase of 0.1%. Core personal consumption expenditures increased by 0.2%, just as many had expected. Of interest to some, though, was news that the lack of spending came in the face of an increase in personal income of 0.5%, which actually exceeds the 0.4% increase that had been expected.

Fed Chairman Bernanke offered up testimony on the economy to the House of Representatives Budget Committee, but his statement caused little stir. Few were surprised by his analysis that the sluggish expansion of the economy has left it vulnerable to shocks. Bernanke did indicate, though, that concerns about the domestic outlook and developments in Europe are abating, even as Greece continues to grapple with creditors over its lending terms.

DJ30 +156.82 NASDAQ +45.98 NQ100 +1.3% R2K +2.2% SP400 +1.6% SP500 +19.36 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2039/2.14 bln/506 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2361/905 mln/647

3:30 pm

The CRB Index rallied to a 1.1% gain today. That snapped a four-session losing streak, but wasn't enough to avoid a weekly loss, which totaled 1.1%.

Oil displayed strength, helped by encouraging economic data and speculation over rising tensions in the Middle East. Continuous futures contract prices closed pit trade at $97.79 per barrel for a 1.5% gain. Elsewhere in the energy complex, natural gas prices fell 1.2% to $2.53 per MMBtu.

Precious metals traded with little direction this morning, but both gold and silver slid lower as trade progressed. As a result, gold settled with a 0.8% loss at $1740.20 per ounce, while silver settled with a 0.7% loss at $33.73 per ounce.

DJ30 +139.49 NASDAQ +44.37 SP500 +17.49 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2025/1.71 bln/505 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2340/585 mln/640

3:00 pm

Only an hour remains in today's trade. As things currently stand, stocks will score their strongest single-session gain in exactly one month. What's more, the S&P 500 is on pace for its fifth straight weekly gain, including an incrementally higher finish to trade last week. That's the best streak since the stock market scored seven consecutive weekly gains to finish 2010 and start 2011.

DJ30 +151.07 NASDAQ +45.81 SP500 +18.23 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2035/1.54 bln/495 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2385/535 mln/605

2:30 pm

Stocks continue to trade with considerable gains. The effort has the S&P 500 on pace for its best one-day bounce in a month.

Share volume remains relatively light, however. That might not matter to those who simply want to see that their holdings have increased in value by session's end, but many market pundits regard light volume trade as something of less conviction than high-volume swings, which suggest that more people are putting more money to work. The trend of the past few months, though, has beel all low-volume trade.

DJ30 +143.22 NASDAQ +46.80 SP500 +17.94 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2000/1.41 bln/510 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2370/490 mln/620

2:00 pm

Stocks continue to drift sideways as market participants enter mid-afternoon trade. The crawl, though unexciting, is allowing gains from the stock market's strong run-up this morning to consolidate.

Just hitting newswires is word that the CEO and Chairman of Micron (MU 7.95, +0.23), Steve Apple (AAPL) (AAPL) ton, has passed away. The stock is currently halted from trade.

DJ30 +144.67 NASDAQ +44.68 SP500 +17.69 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1990/1.32 bln/525 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2365/455 mln/605

1:30 pm

Strong, steady gains today have taken down the Volatility Index by about 5% to 17, or its lowest level in seven months.

Reflecting the market's increased appetite for risk, Treasuries continue to descend deeper into negative territory. That has lifted the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note up to 1.95%.

Strinkingly, the dollar, which is widely regarded as a safe haven, has found support at the flat line after surrendering an early gain.

Gold had been flat early this morning, but the yellow metal has spent the past few hours wrestling with selling pressure. It is now in the process of settling pit trade; with prices near $1740 per ounce, a loss of about 1% is expected.

DJ30 +148.99 NASDAQ +46.42 SP500 +17.94 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2015/1.21 bln/490 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2415/425 mln/550

1:00 pm

The broad market is at a multi-month high and on pace for its best single-session performance in a month following a dose of encouraging economic data.

A tepid tone to premarket trade turned decidedly positive in response to news that nonfarm payrolls jumped in January by 243,000 and that private payrolls climbed by 257,000. Economists polled by Qwoter.com had expected, on average, respective increases of 155,000 and 168,000. Moreover, the headline unemployment rate fell to 8.3% from 8.5%, which is where it had been widely expected to remain.

Following the open, buying interest was further bolstered by the latest ISM Service Index. It improved to 56.8 in January from 52.6 in the prior month. Many economists had expected a more modest improvement to 53.1.

Factory orders climbed 1.1% during December. Although that is less than the 1.5% increase that had been widely expected, the data was generally dismissed since market participants already got a look at fourth quarter GDP with the Advance report released last week.

Although buying has been broad, financials have attracted the biggest bids. In turn, the sector is up more than 2%. While diversified financial services stocks are providing plenty of leadership, shares of Genworth Financial (GNW) (GNW 9.09, +1.05) have surged following the firm's latest quarterly report.

Defensive-oriented utilities have struggled to join in the broad market's advance. Instead, the sector has spent the past few hours mired near the neutral line. The relative weakness is consistent with the sector's performances in recent weeks; utilities are collectively down nearly 4% year to date while the S&P 500 is up almost 7% in that time.

Given the lack of weight among utilities stocks, the broad market has hardly been hampered by its weakness. In turn, the S&P 500 has made its way to its highest level since summer. The Dow is also at a multi-month high, but more impressive is that the Nasdaq Composite now trades at its highest level in more than a decade.

With participants willing to take on more risk, Treasuries have had to endure a concerted selling effort that has dropped the benchmark 10-year Note by a full point. The Note's yield is now back where it started the week.

The greenback garnered buying interest after the jobs data was released, but its gain has been petered out of the past few hours. The dollar is now essentially unchanged on the day.

DJ30 +151.56 NASDAQ +46.09 SP500 +17.97 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2005/1.10 bln/480 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2410/385 mln/540

12:30 pm

Riding along its session high, the S&P 500 is on pace for its best single-session performance in exactly one month. What's more, the move has the broad market measure on pace for a weekly gain of about 2%. That extends the stock market's streak of consecutive weekly gains to five, including an incrementally positive finish last week.

DJ30 +148.75 NASDAQ +43.89 SP500 +17.58 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1950/990 mln/515 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2385/350 mln/535

12:00 pm

Decidedly positive market breadth has advancing issues outnumbering declining issues on the NYSE by more than 4-to-1. Share volume on the Big Board is even more lopsided with advancing volume outnumbering declining volume by more than five times.

Despite such positive sentiment this session, shares of utilities stocks are having a hard time attracting buying interest. In fact, the defensive-oriented sector is currently dancing along the neutral line while the broad market boasts a gain greater than 1%. The relatively weak performance by utilities stocks has been a recurring theme in recent weeks. As a result, the Utilities sector is actually down nearly 4% year to date, but the S&P 500 is actually up almost 7% since the start of the year. The sector's weakness comes after it climbed about 15% in 2011 to outperform every other sector.

DJ30 +143.65 NASDAQ +42.36 SP500 +17.16 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1950/890 mln/490 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2380/315 mln/525

11:30 am

The major equity averages continue to trade near session highs amid steady, broad-based support.

Financials have held a strong lead over the broad market for the entire day. The sector's 2.5% gain is head and shoulders above even the next best performing sector, which happens to be Industrials. Industrials are up 1.7% as a group.

Among financial plays, Genworth Financial (GNW 9.19, +1.15) is a top performer by percent gained following the firm's latest quarterly report. Even though Genworth's earnings came short of the consensus estimate, its top line exceeded expectations. Meanwhile, diversified financial services heavyweights Citigroup (C) (C 33.39, +1.40) and Bank of America (BAC) (BAC 7.82, +0.37) are also helping to drive the sector higher.

DJ30 +146.57 NASDAQ +41.19 SP500 +17.44 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1935/755 mln/480 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2370/272 mln/505

11:00 am

Stocks set session highs in the first hour of trade. They have since entered into a consolidative, sideways drift.

Pronounced strength among stocks has kept Treasuries under steady pressure. The effort has dropped the benchmark 10-year Note by more than a point, resulting in a rising yield that is now back where it started the week.

The dollar has drifted down from its morning high against a collection of competing currencies, but the Dollar Index is still up 0.2% for the session. For the week it is up just 0.3%.

DJ30 +134.12 NASDAQ +38.78 SP500 +15.64 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1930/605 mln/450 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2365/225 mln/490

10:35 am

The dollar index is trading higher this morning, which has added selling pressure on commodities. Since January 13, the dollar index is down 2.8%.

In the energy space, Feb crude oil rallied sharply around 8:15am EST for about $1.40 and touched a new session high of $97.47/barrel. Crude continues to be volatile and after whipping around this morning, its back near its session high, currently at $97.30/barrel, up 1%. . Feb natural gas is in the red this morning and is now down just over 12% for the week (using Friday's closing price). For today, natural gas has been in negative territory all session and is now just above its session low of $2.46, now down 2.5% at $2.49/MMBtu.

In the metals space, Feb gold and March silver are in negative territory and just sold off in recent trade, falling to new session low. Both precious metals have rebounded somewhat, but still remains in the red. Gold is currently 1.0% lower at $1739/oz, while silver is down 1.6% at $33.63 oz.

DJ30 +139.53 NASDAQ +38.12 SP500 +16.05 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1914/559 mln/438 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2348/214 mln/507

10:05 am

The major equity averages have just moved another leg higher. Their climb comes in the wake of another dose of pleasing data.

The ISM Service Index jumped to 56.8 in January from 52.6 in the prior month, surpassing the 53.1 that was expected, on average, among economists polled by Qwoter.com.

Factory orders were less exciting. During December they increased by 1.1%, which is less than the 1.5% increase that had been widely expected.

DJ30 +138.88 NASDAQ +33.87 SP500 +14.44 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1860/220 mln/385 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2355/105 mln/395

09:45 am

The major equity averages are up with strong gains this morning. In fact, the move has put the Nasdaq Composite at its highest level since 2001, while the S&P 500 is now at its best level since summer.

Once again financials are out in front of the broad market. The sector's 1.7% gain this morning has it on pace for a weekly gain of more than 3%, which is about double what the broad market is on pace to book.

DJ30 +110.92 NASDAQ +27.52 SP500 +11.80 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec NA/NA/NA NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec NAN/NA/NA

09:15 am

S&P futures vs fair value: +12.70. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +22.80. A surprisingly strong monthly payrolls report has spurred stock futures higher, such that the cash market appears poised to open trade near or even narrowly above its multi-month high. The dollar has also responded positively to the jobs data; it had been in the red earlier this morning, but now sports a 0.4% gain against a basket of major foreign currencies. Earnings reports have been relegated to secondary interest in the midst of the payrolls report, but a few announcements have generated some stock-specific swings. Still on the calendar are monthly factory orders figures and the latest ISM Service Index -- both are due at 10:00 AM ET.

09:05 am

S&P futures vs fair value: +13.70. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +24.00. Although a surprisingly strong jobs report has aroused buying intererst in equities, many of the more commonly quoted commodities are mixed. Specifically, oil prices are up 0.7% to $97.07 per barrel, but natural gas prices are down 2.0% to $2.50 per MMBtu. Precious metals are under only modest pressure, such that gold was last quoted with a 0.2% loss at $1756 per ounce, while silver sits at $34.12 per ounce with a 0.2% loss.

08:35 am

S&P futures vs fair value: +14.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +26.00. Stock futures have sprinted higher in response to a better-than-expected monthly payrolls report. Officially, nonfarm payrolls jumped in January by 243,000, which is far greater than the increase of 155,000 that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Qwoter.com. The increase in private payrolls totaled 257,000, which is greater than the 168,000 additions that had been broadly expected. Meanwhile, the headline unemployment rate fell to 8.3% from 8.5%, which is where it had been widely expected to remain.

08:05 am

S&P futures vs fair value: +1.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.50. The broad market's flat finish yesterday has extended into premarket trade this morning. The cautious posture precedes the highly anticipated monthly payrolls report, which will be posted at the bottom of the hour. Also on the docket are monthly factory orders figures and the latest ISM Service Index, both of which are due at 10:00 AM ET.

Last evening's batch of earnings reports was a bit more mixed than in recent rounds, but announcements this morning have been better overall. Estee Lauder (EL 54.10, -4.75) had in-line results, but Tyson Foods (TSN 19.10, +0.48) and Weyerhauser (WY 21.05, +0.91) both bested bottom-line expectations. Clorox (CLX 68.73, +0.00) has yet to report. Note: all ticker quotes reflect premarket prices.

Also in the backdrop, Europe's major bourses are plodding along with modest gains at the moment. Participants there are likely waiting to see how U.S. markets respond to the jobs data. Meanwhile, the euro is up just 0.2% against the greenback. The currency remains on track for a weekly loss of about 0.5%, though.

06:29 am

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +7.50.

06:29 am

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06:29 am

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