Encouraged by upbeat earnings from Citigroup (NYSE:C) and multi-billion dollar deals in the pharmaceutical sector, investors shrugged off geo-political pressures and poured back into equities on Monday, driving the Dow Industrials to another record high.
Last week's losses tied to Portugal's banking crisis and worries over Q2 earnings were reversed after Citigroup shares jumped higher on an earnings beat despite a $7 billion judgement levied against the bank by the Justice Department. Health care and industrials were given a shot-in-the arm by M&A deals between Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL) and ABT, AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) and Shire (NASDAQ:SHPG) and ConAgra Foods (NYSE:CAG) and Inner Mongolia potato processor TaiMei.
In commodities, Gold put in its worst performance this year as the risk-aversion to equities dissipated. The precious metal fell to a 3-week low of $1,302 per ounce, taking Platinum and Silver down in sympathy. Energy prices also fell with Crude Oil at a two-week low and just above $100 per barrel.
Here's Where The Markets Stood At The Close
US MARKETS
- Dow Jones Industrial Index was up 111.61 (+0.66%) to 17,055.42
- S&P 500 was up 9.53 (+0.48%) to 1,977.10
- NASDAQ Composite Index was up 24.93 (+0.56%) to 4,440.42
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
- FTSE 100 was up 0.84%
- Nikkei 225 was up 0.88%
- Hang Seng Index was up 0.49%
- Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.96%
UPSIDE MOVERS
- (+) PRGO Israeli media claims investment bank hired to explore strategic alternatives
- (+) SCOK Changing its name to Clean Synthetic Technologies to highlight focus on clean energy products
- (+) PGNX FDA approved Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP) and Progenics Pharmaceuticals' RELISTOR.
DOWNSIDE MOVER
- (-) TRGT Alzheimer disease treatment TC-1734 did not meet the objective of showing superiority to donepezil
- (-) MRKT Barclays initiates coverage with Equal Weight rating
- (-) HLIT Cuts Q2 guidance below prior view, street estimates.
After Hours Stock News From Midnight Trader.
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