Written by Reuters
Saturday, 19 September 2009 19:36
NEW YORK: US stocks rose on Friday, Sept 18 as Procter & Gamble and major home builders advanced on positive brokerage comments and investors bet the economic recovery will be strong enough to sustain corporate profits, according to Reuters.
The Dow hit a new 11-month high and capped its best week in two months as Citigroup said Procter & Gamble, maker of Tide detergent and Pampers, is poised to win market share through aggressive pricing.
Procter & Gamble's shares rose 3.2 percent to US$57.32. The S&P consumer staples index, up 1.1 percent, was among the S&P 500's best-performing sectors.
"It's sort of cautious optimism. What that's doing is leading to analyst upgrades, and we're seeing analysts raising earnings estimates for both this year and for calendar 2010 fairly consistently," said Fred Dickson, market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
The S&P 500 is up 58 percent since hitting a 12-year closing low in early March, partly because of strong second-quarter earnings and optimism that an economic recovery is gaining traction.
Home builders Toll Brothers Inc and KB Home both were upgraded by J.P. Morgan Securities, which said the housing sector will continue to recover over the next 24 months and drive the current rally in home builders' stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 36.28 points, or 0.37 percent, at 9,820.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.81 points, or 0.26 percent, at 1,068.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 6.11 points, or 0.29 percent, at 2,132.86.
It was the market's second straight week of gains. This week, the Dow rose 2.24 percent, the S&P 500 gained 2.45 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 2.50 percent.
"Quadruple witching," the expiration and settlement of four different types of September equity futures and options contracts, seemed "fairly quiet," Dickson said, though the event sometimes leads to increased volatility.
Oil company Chevron Corp also was upgraded.
Credit Suisse said Chevron looks best equipped of the major oil companies to deliver growth "over the coming cycle to 2020." The stock rose 0.9 percent to US$72.64. - Reuters
Saturday, 19 September 2009 19:36
NEW YORK: US stocks rose on Friday, Sept 18 as Procter & Gamble and major home builders advanced on positive brokerage comments and investors bet the economic recovery will be strong enough to sustain corporate profits, according to Reuters.
The Dow hit a new 11-month high and capped its best week in two months as Citigroup said Procter & Gamble, maker of Tide detergent and Pampers, is poised to win market share through aggressive pricing.
Procter & Gamble's shares rose 3.2 percent to US$57.32. The S&P consumer staples index, up 1.1 percent, was among the S&P 500's best-performing sectors.
"It's sort of cautious optimism. What that's doing is leading to analyst upgrades, and we're seeing analysts raising earnings estimates for both this year and for calendar 2010 fairly consistently," said Fred Dickson, market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
The S&P 500 is up 58 percent since hitting a 12-year closing low in early March, partly because of strong second-quarter earnings and optimism that an economic recovery is gaining traction.
Home builders Toll Brothers Inc and KB Home both were upgraded by J.P. Morgan Securities, which said the housing sector will continue to recover over the next 24 months and drive the current rally in home builders' stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 36.28 points, or 0.37 percent, at 9,820.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.81 points, or 0.26 percent, at 1,068.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 6.11 points, or 0.29 percent, at 2,132.86.
It was the market's second straight week of gains. This week, the Dow rose 2.24 percent, the S&P 500 gained 2.45 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 2.50 percent.
"Quadruple witching," the expiration and settlement of four different types of September equity futures and options contracts, seemed "fairly quiet," Dickson said, though the event sometimes leads to increased volatility.
Oil company Chevron Corp also was upgraded.
Credit Suisse said Chevron looks best equipped of the major oil companies to deliver growth "over the coming cycle to 2020." The stock rose 0.9 percent to US$72.64. - Reuters