All of the Dow components and all 10 sectors of the S&P 500 were trading in positive territory. Fewer than 15 of the S&P 500 components traded lower. Leading the gains were energy and financial stocks, which have suffered the most in recent weeks amid rising concerns about an economic slowdown. Bank of American, JP Morgan Chase and Caterpillar are among this morning’s best performing stocks.
The Fed’s Beige Book report on economic conditions across its 12 districts, is due out at 2 p.m., and on Thursday, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will appear before Congress. Homebuilder stocks also leaped higher after Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV) reported strong quarterly earnings and said it believes the industry is in the early stages of a recovery.
Crude-oil futures rose nearly 2% to about $86 a barrel. Gold futures rose 1.3% to about $1,640 an ounce. The U.S. dollar rallied against the yen.
With stocks, Tempur Pedic has lost nearly 50% of their stock price after the mattress maker said that their quarterly earnings would be halved compared to the previous year. Tempur Pedic cited poor sales and increased competition as a major concern for growth. Facebook has once again dipped below $26 continuing its poor performance. Finally, Iron Mountain (IRM) climbed 10.67% to lead the S&P 500 components after the company said it would pursue conversion to a real-estate investment trust, which is expected to lead to the distribution of accumulated earnings and profits of $1 billion to $1.5 billion to its shareholders. The storage-space renter also said it increased its quarterly dividend by 8% to 27 cents a share.
Thomas Doherty is a student at Villanova University majoring in Finance and Economics. All questions and comments can be sent to Thomas@KeeneOnTheMarket.com