Stock Market News For Feb 13, 2018

Benchmarks ended in the green on Monday for a second straight trading day after posting its worst weekly performance in two years. Investors took a breather after markets performed a rebound after hitting the resistance level. Additionally, President Trump signed into law a bipartisan budget deal that will provide a massive spending boost to the Pentagon and U.S. infrastructure. This in turn had a positive impact on key indexes.

How the Benchmarks Fared?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) increased 1.7%, or 406.06 points, to close at 24,596.96. The S&P 500 rose 1.4% to close at 2,655.48. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 6,981.96, gaining 1.6%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 3.45 points to close at 25.61. A total of 8.13 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 8.5 billion shares. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.80 -to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.90-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.

Markets Recover For 2-Straight Day

All the key U.S. indexes rebounded and increased for the second consecutive trading day after entering correction territory last week. The movement came after investors looked to buy on the cheap, with energy stocks among the key gainers. Domestic oil prices recovered after last-week’s decline after OPEC in its monthly report projected global oil demand would increase by 1.59 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, better than its previous outlook by 60,000 bpd.

WTI crude price advanced 0.2% to $59.29 per barrel. Increase in oil prices had a positive impact on the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE (NYSE:XLE)), which advanced 1.7%. Some of its key components, including Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) rose 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively. Both the energy giants possess a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Trump Signs 2-Year Bipartisan Budget Deal

The budget Bill was approved by the Congress and signed into law by President Trump as the Bipartisan Budget Act. The budget law proposes at least $23 billion for border security as well as immigration enforcement while around $716 billion is to be spent on military programs. Trump administration also proposed $200 billion for federal infrastructure spending over ten years. Trump’s new budget proposals had a positive impact on materials and industrials sectors.

The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) surged 2% and was the best gainer among the key S&P 500 sectors. One of its key components, DowDuPont Inc. (NYSE:DWDP) climbed 3.4%. Additionally, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) rose 1.6% with its key holding The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) advanced 3.3%. For the S&P 500 index, all the 11 sectors increased on Monday.

Stocks That Made Headlines

Suncor Hikes Syncrude Stake & Buys Fenja Project Interest

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU) recently announced two acquisitions: one at Syncrude oil sands project and the other at Fenja Development, an offshore project. (Read More)

Twin Shareholder-Friendly Measures Drive Up the CSX Stock

CSX Corporation’s (NASDAQ:CSX) board of directors has announced a 10% dividend hike. (Read More)

Ryder Rewards Shareholders With 13% Dividend Hike, Stock Up

Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) has approved a quarterly dividend hike of 13%. Following this announcement, shares of the company were up. (Read More)

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