Stock Market News For December 07, 2016

Markets ended in positive territory for the second consecutive sessions on Tuesday as Trump induced financials rally continued to have a positive impact on stocks. Increasing chances of a December hike boosted financial stocks further. Meanwhile, renewed investor’s interest in holding on to high-dividend paying stocks helped telecom sector to register healthy gains. The blue-chip index ended at all-time highs for the second straight session.

For a look at the issues currently facing the markets, make sure to read today’s Ahead of Wall Street article.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.2%, to close at 19,251.78. The S&P 500 increased more than 0.3% to close at 2,212.23. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 5,333.00, gaining 0.5%. Meanwhile, the fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) dropped nearly 5.3% to settle at 11.50. A total of around 7.1 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, higher than the last 20-session average of 7.9 billion shares. Advancers outpaced declining stocks on the NYSE. For 69% stocks that advanced, 28% declined.

Financials Rally Continues, Telecom Surge

Financial sector has performed impressively since Trump’s victory in the Presidential election as a number of promises, including tax-cuts, made by him during the campaign are expected to have a positive impact on the sector. Moreover, growing chances of a rate hike in this month’s policy meeting following release of encouraging economic data also bores well for the sector. October’s factory orders data that was released yesterday was another addition to the clutch of encouraging economic reports.

The Commerce Department reported that new orders for manufactured goods rose for the fourth consecutive months by 2.7% in October to $469.4 billion. This was also higher than the consensus estimate and upwardly revised September’s increases of 2.6% and 0.6%, respectively. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLF) gained 0.9% and emerged as the top performing sector among the broader S&P 500 sectors.

Key stocks from the sector including Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C). (C), The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS), Inc. ( GS) and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) (BAC) gained 1.1%, 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively. While Bank of America and Goldman Sachs hold Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), Citigroup currently posses a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here .

Separately, investors desire to allocate their assets in dividend paying stocks helped telecom sectors gain significantly on Tuesday. Also, Trump announced that Japan-based telecom firm, SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBY), has decided to invest a large amount of nearly $50 billion in the U.S., which in turn boosted telecom shares further. The SPDR S&P Telecom ETF (NYSE:XTL) has gained 0.7%. Key stocks from the sector including T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS), Sprint Corporation ( S) and AT&T Inc (NYSE:T). (T) gained 1.8%, 1.5% and 1.9%, respectively.

Stocks That Made Headlines

Equinix (EQIX) to Buy Certain Data Center Assets from Verizon

Equinix Inc (NASDAQ:EQIX). (EQIX) entered into a deal to buy certain data center assets from Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ). (VZ). ( Read More)

Apple (AAPL) Faces a Setback as SCOTUS Favors Samsung?

Things did not go Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).’s (AAPL) way as the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of its rival, Samsung Electronics (KS:005930), in a design infringement lawsuit that has been going on for quite some time now. ( Read More)

MasterCard Rewards Shareholders with 16% Dividend Hike

Ushering in good news for shareholders, MasterCard Inc. (MA) declared quarterly cash dividend of 22 cents per share, reflecting a 16% increase from the previous payout. ( Read More)

Alaska Air Group a Step Closer to Buying Virgin America

Alaska Air Group (ALK) moved a step closer to buying the California based low-cost carrier Virgin America (VA), following the receipt of the antitrust clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). (Read More)

Conns' (CONN) Q3 Loss Narrower than Expected; Stock Up

Shares of Conn's, Inc. (CONN) rose nearly 8.9% after the company posted narrower-than-expected loss for third-quarter fiscal 2017. ( Read More)

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