U.S. stocks closed smack-dab on the 17-month high Thursday (1150 on the S&P 500, initially hit on January 19) to fully erase the 8.1% pullback the market ran into a month back. A late-session surge brought the market out of negative territory, where it had been for virtually the entire day, to match that near-term high.
Jobless claims that remain stuck at high levels and foreclosure filings that continue to rise at a pace of 300K per month couldn’t stop a spate of optimism that banks have put damaging loan quality behind them. That’s a dangerous assumption in this environment. But hey, it sure feels good.
As a result, financials led the market higher with consumer discretionary shares being the next best performing sector. Basic material stocks participated in the advance for the first time in three sessions as the U.S. dollar lost ground.
Nine of the 10 major industry groups rose yesterday. Energy was the sole loser.
Click here to read the full Daily Insight.
Brent Vondera, Senior Analyst
Friday, March 12, 2010
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