NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Stock prices marched higher today as U.S. troops pushed within 30 miles of Baghdad, sparking optimism that the battle to topple Saddam may be over soon. The market was also buoyed by a drop in oil prices, a stronger dollar, and an impressive performance in the European markets.
The Dow soared 215.20 points (2.7 percent) to close at 8,285.06, while the tech-rich Nasdaq added 48.42 points (3.6 percent) to finish at 1,396.70 and the S&P gained 2.6 percent to 880.90. Today's gains came on top of yesterday's 77-point rally, which broke a four-day losing streak for the major market indexes.
STOCKYARD The good news is that today's rally was broad-based, with 28 of the blue-chip index's 30 components in positive territory. The lone exceptions were Johnson & Johnson (down a penny to $58.41 ) and AT&T (down 49 cents to $15.89) -- but then again, both were downgraded today.
With the war situation looking more positive for the U.S., nobody seemed to want to miss out on a buying opportunity. The Dow's chart toppers included Alcoa (up 69 cents to $20.10), American Express (up $1.20 to $34.74), Caterpillar (up $2.06 to $51.71), and General Motors (up 90 cents to $34.70). Shares of big techs like Intel and IBM got a big bump as investors looked for names that should benefit from a jump start of corporate spending after the war. Intel rose $1.10 to $17.52, IBM added $2.73 to $81.46 and Microsoft gained $1.37 to $25.72.
MONEY MANAGERS SPEAK "The closer we get to Baghdad, the closer we get to being finished," says Shawn Baldwin, CEO of Capital Management Group. "We have freed prisoners, [and] there's a more positive perspective, which makes people feel more positive about the market." He adds: "With expectations shifting that the war will be over sooner rather than later, the companies that have restricted spending may be ready to loosen their wallets and buy software and upgrade technology." That could spark an economic turnaround in the third or fourth quarter, he says.
Meanwhile, Tim Stives, managing director at Ashland Management, says: "It's all about oil...For the last 30 days, the market has been moving in inverse of oil prices." But, he adds, "once the war is over and we're back to focusing on the domestic economy, I don't think the picture looks that great."
Loose change
Have a Coke and a smile. Shares of Coca-Cola Enterprises rose more than 7 percent after the beverage bottler reported it would meet estimates. CCE said volume for the first quarter would increase 2.5 percent over the same period a year ago...
Airline stocks took off on reports that Congress may be about to pass a $3 billion aid package for the troubled industry. American Airlines rose 42 percent to $4.25. Continental rose 6.6 percent to $5.95...
Goldman Sachs is laying off about 100 stock traders and salespeople....
Tyco is suing Mark Swartz, formerly its CFO, for $400 million. Suit alleges he improperly took company funds, among other things....
Hey, Warren Buffett likes Clayton Homes. Berkshire Hathaway is buying the homebuilder for about $1.7 billion...
The million-dollar question looming over the market is, when the war in Iraq is over, will the U.S. economy have the strong fundamentals to keep stock prices marching higher? Stay tuned.
Sign up to receive StreetLife by e-mail.
|
