US stocks ended with strong gains on Tuesday, 28 May 2013 at Wall Street. Stocks climbed at Wall Street bouncing back from last week's losses after data showed consumer confidence rising in May and the real-estate market picking up speed. Equities surged out of the gate, but the early enthusiasm faded an hour into the session when the major averages notched their highs, and began their retreat towards Friday's closing levels. But then indices once again surged up.
For the day, the Dow ended higher by 106.29 points (0.7%) at 15,409.4. Nasdaq ended higher by 29.74 points (0.9%) at 3,488.9. S&P 500 ended higher by 10.46 points (0.63%) at 1,660.06.
Nine out of ten economic sectors ended lower higher. Financials paced sector gains and telecommunications led the laggard.
Following last week's news events from the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke's speech to Congress and the latest FOMC minutes' release traders and investors will examine this week's U.S. economic data with a keener sense of whether the economy continues to grow slowly, or is beginning to fade. Tuesday's data favored the hawkish Fed camp that wants to wind down quantitative easing of U.S. monetary policy.
Bank shares traded broadly higher on Tuesday and Morgan Stanley was the top performer among the majors.
This morning saw just a handful of names report their quarterly results. Retailers have received a boost from Tiffany's better-than-expected earnings and revenue. In addition, the company reaffirmed its full-year earnings guidance, but lowered its full-year revenue growth forecast to mid-single digits from the previously expected 6-8%.
In deal news, Fidelity National Financial has agreed to acquire Lender Processing Services for around $2.9 billion. Under the terms of the deal, Lender Processing, a technology company that services the mortgage and real-estate industries, can seek further offers until July 7.
In the currency market, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies, rose by 0.6%.
Regarding economic data expected at Wall Street on Tuesday, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence report for May brought encouraging news with the index rising to 76.2 from 68.1 in April. The consensus expected a reading of 72.5. The May number was the highest since February 2008. The uptick in confidence fits with the improvement in labor market conditions and fits neatly with the ongoing strength in the stock market and housing market that have produced their share of positive-sounding headlines.
Separately, the March Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index rose 10.9% while a 10.1% increase had been expected by the consensus. This follows the previous month's increase of 9.3%.
Crude-oil prices ended higher on Tuesday, 28 May 2013 at Nymex. A stronger than expected consumer confidence data and rally at Wall Street pushed prices higher. Supply concerns at Middle East also pushed prices up but a strong dollar did restrict the price rise. Light and sweet crude for July ended higher by $0.86 (0.9%) at $95.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. Prices were trading close to $96 earlier during the day.
In Nigeria, news reports said pirates hijacked a fuel tanker off the coast of the West African nation and took hostages. The EU and Nigeria news served as reminders of the instability of global oil supplies from the oil-rich Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Bullion metal prices ended lower on Tuesday, 28 May 2013. A strong rise in the US dollar and overall strength in the global and US equities pushed prices of precious metals lower. The greenback and U.S. stock indexes were supported by stronger U.S. economic data on Tuesday that included a five-year high in the consumer confidence index.
Gold for August delivery ended lower by $7.8 (0.6%) at $1,379.7 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. It touched a high of $1,400 and a low of $1372.5 during intra day trading. July silver ended lower by $0.30 cents (1.4%) at $22.19 an ounce on Tuesday.
For every three stocks falling, roughly three gained on the New York Stock Exchange, where 724 million shares traded. Composite volume surpassed 3.3 billion.
Indian ADRs ended higher on Tuesday. In the IT space, Infosys was up 1.7% and Wipro was up 2.3%. In the Banking space, HDFC Bank was up 1.4% and ICICI Bank was up 3.1%. In the Telecom space, Tata Communication was up 3.4%. In other space, Tata Motors gained 4.9%, Dr Reddys was up 1% and Sterlite was down 1.2%.
Tomorrow, economic news will be limited to the 7:00 ET release of the weekly MBA Mortgage Index. The U.S. Treasury will auction $35 billion in 5-yr notes.
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