Stocks rallied as worries about Europe eased and investors parsed through the latest round of earnings. The IMF boosted its global growth outlook to 3.5% for 2012, up slightly from a previous prediction of 3.3%. The latest German economic sentiment index came in unexpectedly high, while an auction of Spanish 12- and 18-month treasury bills drew strong demand. Also, March housing starts occurred at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000, below expectations and down from February's rate of 694,000, while building permits came in at an annual rate of 747,000, ahead of expectations and up from February's rate of 715,000. Tech stocks also rallied with the broader market, led by gains in Apple which rose 5.1%, snapping a five-session losing streak . Microsoft rose by 1.2% after the co. announced plans to launch its “Halo 4” videogame for the company’s XBox 360 console on Nov. 6. Considerable gains also came from Google, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and AMD. After the closing bell Intel lost 3.1% despite the co. reported earnings and guidance above estimates. IBM was down 2.4% as it’s earnings came above projections, but revenue fell shy of expectations. Yahoo jumped more than 3% following the co.’s better-than-expected quarterly report. Implied volatility inched lower on moderate trading volumes.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Jumped as global fears eased
Stocks rallied as worries about Europe eased and investors parsed through the latest round of earnings. The IMF boosted its global growth outlook to 3.5% for 2012, up slightly from a previous prediction of 3.3%. The latest German economic sentiment index came in unexpectedly high, while an auction of Spanish 12- and 18-month treasury bills drew strong demand. Also, March housing starts occurred at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000, below expectations and down from February's rate of 694,000, while building permits came in at an annual rate of 747,000, ahead of expectations and up from February's rate of 715,000. Tech stocks also rallied with the broader market, led by gains in Apple which rose 5.1%, snapping a five-session losing streak . Microsoft rose by 1.2% after the co. announced plans to launch its “Halo 4” videogame for the company’s XBox 360 console on Nov. 6. Considerable gains also came from Google, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and AMD. After the closing bell Intel lost 3.1% despite the co. reported earnings and guidance above estimates. IBM was down 2.4% as it’s earnings came above projections, but revenue fell shy of expectations. Yahoo jumped more than 3% following the co.’s better-than-expected quarterly report. Implied volatility inched lower on moderate trading volumes.
