Stocks push higher into the close. Snatch victory from the jaws of defeat
The major indices are closing higher after a late session surge take the Dow and S&P toward the highs and reverse declines in the NASDAQ index.
The major indices snapped a two day decline. The Russell 2000 index was the biggest gainer today.
The final numbers are showing:
- Dow industrial average up 139.92 points or 0.40% at 34818.28
- S&P index up 15.45 points or 0.34% at 4545.87
- NASDAQ index up 40.99 points or +0.29% at 14261.51
- Russell 2000 index rose 20.98 points or 1.01% at 2091.11
Looking at the major sectors in the S&P index, the gainers today included:
- real estate , +1.9%
- utilities +1.4%
- materials +1.1%
The major decliners today included:
- industrials, -0.8%
- technology -0.3%
- financials -0.2%
For the trading week, the Dow and S&P were little changed. The NASDAQ rose modestly:
- Dow industrial average, -0.07%
- S&P index +0.07%
- NASDAQ +0.63%
A positive development technically for the S&P index is it is closing the day just above its 100 day moving average at 4541.81. Yesterday the index fell back below that moving average level, but rebounded back above in trading today.
The not so good news is that the Dow industrial average remains below its 200 day moving average at 34996.69.
Also not great technically, is the NASDAQ index moved up to its 100 day moving average on both Tuesday and Wednesday and found sellers ahead of the moving average level. The 100 day moving average currently comes in at 14599. A move above that moving average is needed to tilt the bias more in the direction of the upside.