Posted on Friday, 1st July 2011 by Charlotte W
– The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Friday, with sentiment precariously poised following four days of gains, which have lifted the major averages to 1-month highs. With the Greek overhang now out of the way, the market focus is now likely to be on economic fundamentals. Traders may react to a slew of data on consumer sentiment, manufacturing, construction spending and auto sales all due later in the day.
After a modestly higher start on Thursday, thanks to optimism about Greece, U.S. stocks advanced sharply in early trading following the release of a report showing an unexpected improvement in Chicago-area manufacturing. Thereafter, the major indexes consolidated their gains before closing at 1-month closing highs.
The Dow Industrials ended up 152.92 points or 1.25 percent at 12,414 compared to a 33.03 point or 1.21 percent advance by the Nasdaq Composite Index, while the S&P 500 Index closed at 1,321, up 13.23 points or 1.01 percent.
Twenty-six of the thirty Dow components closed higher, with Caterpillar (CAT) (up 3 percent), Intel (INTC) (up 3.60 percent), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) (up 2.39 percent) and United Technologies (UTX) (up 2.36 percent) leading the gains. Meanwhile, Bank of America (BAC) slid 1.62 percent.
Among the sector indexes, the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index rose about 1.69 percent each, while the Dow Jones U.S. Basic Materials Average added 1.11 percent. The Dow Jones Transportation Average ended up 1.26 percent, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged up 2.54 percent, the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index advanced 2.96 percent, the NYSE Arca Internet Index moved up 1.28 percent and the NYSE Arca Software Index climbed 1.21 percent.
On the economic front, jobless claims slid 1,000 to 428,000 in the week ended June 25th, with claims holding stubbornly above the 400,000 level for the twelfth straight week.
The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago’s manufacturing survey for June revealed that its business barometer rose 3.5 points to 61.1 in June following declines in the previous three months. The new orders index rose 7.7 points to 61.2 and the production index rose about 10.9 points to 66.9. Meanwhile, the order backlogs index fell 2.4 points to 49.3 and the employment index declined to 58.7 from 60.8 in May,
Currency, Commodity Markets
Crude oil futures are receding $0.88 to $94.54 a barrel after advancing $0.65 to $95.42 a barrel on Thursday. Gold futures are currently sliding $13.50 to $1,489.30 an ounce. In the previous session, the precious metal fell $7.60 to $1,502.80 an ounce.
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Tags: Gains, Gains Depend
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