Wall Street came back from the long-holiday weekend to a triple-digit rally Tuesday as commodities helped lift the raw material companies and strong earnings results pushed the broader market higher.
Today’s Markets
At the 4 p.m. preliminary close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 169.67 points, or 1.68%, to 10268.81, the S&P 500 index rose 19.36 points, or 1.8%, to 1094.87 and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 30.66 points, or 1.4%, to 2214.19. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 climbed 14.45 points, or 1.85%, to 794.07.
The bulls found fuel for Tuesday's rally in the commodity markets, notably gold and oil, while and positive earnings results out of British banking giant Barclays (BCS: 18.98, 0, 0%) and Dow component and drug maker Merck (MRK: 37.7, 0, 0%).
The U.K.-based Barclays saw its shares jump more than 13% after the bank reported a profit that well ahead of analysts’ estimates and said that most of its write downs were now over. The gains helped boost the broader financial sector, including several U.S. names such as Bank of America (BAC: 15.19, 0, 0%), JPMorgan Chase (JPM: 40.04, 0, 0%) and Goldman Sachs (GS: 157.39, 0, 0%).
Meanwhile shares of Merck advanced 2% after the company posted results in line with estimates but said notably that its merger with Schering-Plough was on track to reduce costs as originally intended, in contrast to comments made by Pfizer (PFE: 17.73, 0, 0%) last month on its merger with Wyeth. Shares of Pfizer fell after Merck's report.
The other laggard among the Blue Chips was Kraft Foods (KFT: 28.91, 0, 0%) after the food conglomerate reported a revenue figure that missed analysts' estimates.
The euro-commodities trade that was so prevalent at the beginning of the year returned in full force after the finance ministers of the European Member countries finished their two-day meeting over the Greek debt situation.
Officials said they are willing to help Greece, but expect the Mediterranean country to drastically slash the size of its budget by next month. After falling sharply last week, the euro rebounded by 1% on Tuesday.
Commodities followed, with oil climbed $3.06, or 4.11%, to $77.56 a barrel while gold rose $29.80 to $1,119.30 a troy ounce. Shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM: 66.29, 0, 0%), Chevron (CVX: 73, 0, 0%), Halliburton (HLB: undefined, undefined, undefined%) and Schlumberger (SLB: 65.57, 0, 0%) advanced on the broad energy rally.
Company News
Drugmaker Merck (MRK: 37.7, 0, 0%) reported a profit of $2.35 a share, up from 78 cents a year ago. Adjusted results, excluding its purchase of Schering-Plough, were 79 cents, matching analysts’ estimates.
Simon Property Group (SGP: 28.17, 0, 0%) announced an offer to buy recently-bankrupt mall operator General Growth Properties for $10 billion.
Teen apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF: 35.27, 0, 0%) beat the street when it reported adjusted EPS of 91 cents, ahead of the 87 cents expected by analysts. However, revenue fell 4.6% and same-store sales fell 13%.
Toyota (TM: 76.15, 0, 0%) said it would shut down two plants, one in Texas and one in Kentucky, temporarily. The plant shutdown comes as auto sales have stalled as the Japanese automaker deals with multiple safety recalls.
Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA: 58.14, 0, 0%), the world’s largest generic drug maker, fell a penny shy of the Street’s estimates when it reported an adjusted profit of 94 cents a share. However, the company did back its 2010 full-year guidance of $4.40 to $4.60 a share.
Shares of Darden Restaurants (DRI: 40.4, 0, 0%), the owner of Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants, gained Tuesday after the company issued earnings above analysts' expectations and raised its outlook for the year.
Power generator Southern Co. (SO: 31.91, 0, 0%) got approval for $8 billion in loan guarantees from Department of Energy that will be used toward the construction of a nuclear power plant in Georgia.
Global Markets
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 1.48% to 5244.06, France’s CAC 40 rose 1.66% to 3639.04 and Germany’s DAX gained 1.47% to 5592.12.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei climbed 0.21% to 10034.25. China and Hong Kong remained closed in observance of the Chinese New Year
