Energy, Financial Stocks Surge In Late Rally, Lifting Markets To Broad

4:11 PM, Jul 26, 2012 -- Stocks rallied today, snapping a four-day losing streak, supported by better-than-expected economic reports and comments by European central banker Mario Draghi that the ECB would do whatever it takes to support the euro. All 10 sectors in the S&P 500 finished with gains, led by shares of energy and consumer staples companies while materials stocks drifted lower to near break-even for the session. All 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Index also finished in the black. Commodities also managed moderate gains today.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged to do "whatever it takes" to protect the euro zone from collapse, including fighting unreasonably high government borrowing costs. "And believe me, it will be enough," he said at an investment conference in London. European shares finished sharply higher following Draghi's remarks.

Stocks also got a boost from better-than-expected economic reports on weekly jobless claims and durable goods orders. First-time applications for unemployment insurance fell by 35,000 claims last week to a seasonally adjusted 353,000, dropping to almost a four-year low, according to the Labor Department.

In a separate report, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders increased 1.6 percent in June, but this was mostly because demand for aircraft surged. Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, fell 1.4%. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.4% rise after a previously reported 1.3% increase during May.

But stocks eased briefly this morning after the National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in June, unexpectedly slipped 1.4%. Nationwide, the median price for a home resale rose to $189,400 in June, up 7.9% from a year earlier.

In company news, Zynga (ZNGA) shares slid over 39% today after the social gaming company reported Q212 financial results that missed on both the top and bottom lines. Adjusted EPS was $0.01 for the quarter, well under the $0.06 a share analysts were expecting while revenue of $332.5 million was 3.3% below the $344.12 million consensus.

ZNGA also lowered its outlook for the rest of the year, citing "delays in launching new games, a faster decline in existing web games due in part to a more challenging environment on the Facebook web platform and reduced expectations for Draw Something." The disappointing results also fueled a 6% selloff for Facebook (FB), which is scheduled to release financial results for the first time as a publicly traded company soon after the markets close this afternoon.

Commodities also ended higher. Crude oil for September delivery ended up 37 cents at $89.40 a barrel. August natural gas rose 3 cents to $3.10 per 1 million BTU. August gold rose $7.30 to $1615 an ounce while September silver fell 4 cents to $27.44 an ounce. September copper rose 1 cent to $3.39.

Here's where the markets stood at end-of-day:

Dow Jones Industrial Average up 211.88 (+1.67%) to 12,887.93

S&P 500 up 22.13 (+1.65%) to 1,360.02

Nasdaq Composite Index up 39.01 (+1.37%) to 2,893.25

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Hang Seng Index up 0.08%

Shanghai China Composite Index down 0.47%

FTSE 100 Index up 1.36%

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) VDSI, Reports Q2 EPS of $0.18, topping estimates for $0.12. Revenue for the quarter came in at $46.6 million, topping the $44.12 million consensus.

(+) S, Reports earnings and revenue that missed Wall Street's expectations with Q2 net loss of $0.46 a share on $8.84 billion in revenue.

(+) PMTC, Posts Q3 EPS of $0.37 on $311.2 million in revenues, both topping estimates. Sees Q4 earnings of $0.49 a share on up to $335 million in sales, both trailing forecasts.

(+) CROX, Q2 EPS was $0.68, beating the analyst average by $0.05 a share. Revenue of $330.9 million trails Street by $9.3 million. Q3 earnings guidance in-line; revenue 6% under.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) SQNS, Posts $0.21 a share net loss, a penny less than analysts were expecting. Revenues of $7 million also topped estimates by $600,000.

(-) DNKN, Earnings meet expectations at $0.33 a share. Revenues beat with $172.7 million. Raises FY12 EPS guidance by a penny to $1.22 to $1.25, in-line with $1.25 a share consensus.

(-) STRA, Q2 earnings of $1.85 a share misses by a penny while $146.3 million in revenue was $1.3 million below forecasts. Sees Q3 EPS of $0.30 to $0.32; Street is at $0.88 a share.

(-) GPRE, Year-ago $0.14 a share profit swings to $0.25 a share Q2 net loss, $0.08 worse than the Street view. Revenue rises 1% to $870.4 million, beating estimates by $5.35 million.