28-Dec-2011 - Stocks Nudge Higher

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By JONATHAN CHENG U.S. stocks firmed as oil rose above 100 a barrel, lifting energy stocks, and investors welcomed a better-than-expected reading on consumer confidence. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 18 points, or 0.1%, to 12312 in midmorning Tuesday trade. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index advanced three points, or 0.3%, to 1268 and the Nasdaq Composite gained seven points, or 0.3%, to 2626. Energy stocks strengthened, after crude-oil futures shot up to 100.68 a barrel. Chevron led the Dow components with a 0.6% rise. All 10 sectors of the S&P 500 were in positive territory, after starting the day with all of the sectors in the red. The moves kick off a holiday-shortened week that comes after a week that saw the Dow gain 3.6%, including a 124-point rally on Friday that sent the blue-chip index to a five-month high. The S&P 500 also moved back into positive territory for the year, and is up 0.9% with just three full sessions remaining in 2011. Helping the rally was a reading on consumer confidence that showed the measure at an eight-month high of 64.5 in December, easily topping expectations for a reading of 56.0. More importantly, some said, nike nfl jerseys the "labor differential" —a measure of job prospects—improved to its best level since early 2009. "What we're seeing is that people see there are more jobs are around," said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG. "We've seen a lot of improvement in labor-market numbers lately. Clearly there's something going on here." The consumer-confidence number helped a handful of household brands push nba jerseys from china to all-time highs. McDonald's gained 0.3% to crack the 100 a share level for the first time in its history. Starbucks gained 0.4% and Visa added 0.8% to reach their own respective all-time highs. The higher oil prices didn't seem to dent sentiment, Mr. Greenhaus noted. "Demand-led increases don't matter. If demand goes up and prices go up, that's a good thing. It's indicative of global growth," he said. European markets followed the U.S. market higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 rising 0.1%. The U.K. market is closed, and activity and news flow elsewhere remain light. Asian bourses finished broadly lower. China's Shanghai Composite shedding 1.1% to close at its lowest level since March 2009. Gold futures fell back below 1,600 an ounce, while the U.S. dollar lost some ground against the euro and the yen. Treasurys inched higher, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year note down to 2.0256%. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 major U.S. cities showed a year-on-year decline of 3.4% in October, giving little solace to investors looking for a slowdown in the recent months' accelerating decline. However, regional Federal Reserve reports on Richmond and Dallas-area manufacturing came in below expectations. In corporate news, Sears Holdings slumped 20% after the retailer said it would close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores to reduce costs, and added it expects take fourth-quarter non-cash charges between 1.6 billion and 2.4 billion related to a valuation allowance and impairment on some goodwill balances. The company also said quarter-to-date same-store sales through Dec. 25 declined 5.2%. Mead Johnson Nutrition rallied 6.3% after the company said over the weekend that a new round of cheap nfl jerseys sample testing of its Enfamil Premium Newborn formula didn't detect any presence of a potentially deadly bacteria. Cal-Maine Foods climbed 5.5% after the egg producer reported fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded expectations. Elsewhere, Parlux Fragrances soared 78% after the company said late Friday that it agreed to be acquired by Perfumania Holdings for about 170 million in cash and stock. Perfumania tumbled 24%.

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