Mixed Close on Late Rally Fueled by Positive FOMC Statements
The stock market indices had a mixed session at the close, but came way off the lows after the FOMC made some positive statements that helped the market rally.
The day started out, however, with a dip. They then bounced, with the Nasdaq 100 acting much better than the S&P 500. By midday the S&P 500 had made nominal new lows near 1407, but the pullback midday on the NDX was far from the earlier lows. That was a positive divergence causing the market to rally into the FOMC.
At that point, they popped, pulled back, tested intraday moving averages, and then rocketed with a half hour to go to the highs for the day. The NDX had rallied from 2759 to 2790, about 31 points at that point, while the S&P 500 jumped from 1407 to 1416, about 9 points. In the last half hour they backed and filled, and consolidated, but held support, and closed mixed on the session.
Net on the day, the Dow was down 30.74 at 13,172.84, about 32 points off its high and 42 points off the low. The S&P 500 was up .34 at 1413.51, only 3 points off its high and 7 points off the low. Apple and Google were sharply higher, and the NDX closed up 11.22 at 2783.42, 7 points off the high and 24 points off the low.
Advance-declines were still 3 to 2 negative on New York Stock Exchange, and 3 to 2 negative on Nasdaq as well. Up/down volume was just slightly negative on New York, with total volume of 583 million shares. Nasdaq traded over 1.4 billion, and had a 4 to 3 negative volume ratio.
TheTechTrader.com board, as a result, was mixed, but there were some very interesting gainers today. Apple Inc. (AAPL) was up 12.81 to 668.87, but was 21 points off the low at the close with a low of 648.12. Google Inc. (GOOG) jumped 7.67 to 677.18. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) was up 3.65 to 243.10.
Other gainers of note included Ellie Mae, Inc. (ELLI), up 2.06 to 26.00 even, Pharmacyclics Inc. (PCYC) continues to rise and may be the stock of the year, up 2.61 to 64.56 and continues to run.
Percent gainers did well. Key Tronic Corp. (KTCC) advanced 1.94 to 9.94, or 24%. NovaCopper Inc. (NCQ) gained 62 cents to 2.49, or 33%, on 1.2 million shares. Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd (QIHU) was a big winner, up 3.48 to 24.58, or 16 1/2%, on 13 million shares. Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM) popped 4.45 to 42.68, or 12%, on 7.8 million shares on strong earnings. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (BKD) gradually made its way up 2.17 to 22.08, or 11%, on 6.6 million shares.
Low-priced Zynga, Inc. (ZNGA) was up 29 cents to 3.26, or 10%, on 39.4 million shares. Synacor, Inc. (SYNC) snapped back 78 cents to 8.32, or 10%, on 1.3 million shares. Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARNA) jumped 60 cents to 8.67.
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) closed up 1.30 to 22.13, USG Corporation (USG) up 1.49 to 20.26, Chico's FAS Inc. (CHS) 1.13 to 18.21, Sohu.com Inc. (SOHU) 2.56 to 42.37, AM Castle & Co. (CAS) 1.32 to 13.01, Imperva Inc. (IMPV) 1.61 to 30.70, and Green Dot Corporation (GDOT) 1.06 to 11.11.
In addition, builders were strong today. Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL) was up 1.20 to 33.01, Meritage Homes Corporation (MTH) gained 1.34 to 37.85, and Lennar Corp. (LEN) up 1.17 to 32.35.
On the downside, the ProShares UltraShort Silver (ZSL) was down 2.22 to 55.84.
Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices opened lower, bounced, and then made midday lows before a big afternoon rally following the positive FOMC statements. The market closed mixed on the session, with Nasdaq 100 up solidly on the day. Key support did hold today, and now we’ll be watching 2760 NDX and about 1408 S&P 500 to see whether that level and that key level can hold.
We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.
Good Trading!
Harry