U.S. Indexes Extend Gains in Record Zone

Nichole Harper
18 Nov, 2013
New York City

Stocks extended advance and market indexes traded in a record territory. S&P 500 index extended yearly gain to 26.3% and the Nasdaq index flirted near 32%. Market indexes in Europe and Asia advanced. Fertilizer stocks were in focus after Prokhorov gained full control of Uralkali.

[R]11:35 AM New York – Stocks extended advance and market indexes traded in a record territory. S&P 500 index extended yearly gain to 26.3% and the Nasdaq index flirted near 32%. Market indexes in Europe and Asia advanced. Fertilizer companies were in focus.[/R]

U.S. stocks struggled to gain but major averages traded higher into record territory.

S&P 500 index gained 0.33 to 1,798.51 and Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 3.92 to 3,982.05. Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 40.31 to 16,002.01.

Stocks continued the advance on the belief that the Fed Chairman nominee Janet Yellen is committed in keeping the current bond purchase program intact.

Federal Reserve has dramatically expanded its balance sheet and purchased $3.5 trillion of U.S. Treasury bonds and mortgage securities since 2008 and continues to purchase $85 of bonds a month.

The money creation by the Fed has supported corporate and economic activities and corporations have borrowed $6.3 trillion through bond markets including record $3.5 trillion in the current year.

Home builder confidence index was unchanged from a downwardly revised 54, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index showed.

U.S. Stocks in Review

Potash Corp and Mosaic Co traded actively with a slight positive bias after Russia’s Mikhail Prokhorov agreed to buy majority shareholder in a joint venture Uralkali. The disagreement between the partners had roiled global potash industry.

The Boeing Company ((BA)) jumped 2.9% or $3.90 to $139.98 after the commercial aircrafts maker secured more than $100 billion of orders based on listed price from Emirates Airline and commitments at the Dubai air show after the company launched its 777X long-haul jetliner.

CareFusion Corporation ((CFN)) slipped 37 cents to $38.81 after the medical technology agreed to acquire the Vital Signs division of GE Healthcare for $500 million. The acquisition is expected to be completed by end of December.

Tyson Foods, Inc. ((TSN)) climbed 3.8% or $1.10 to $29.87 after the food processing company reported sales in the fourth-quarter jumped 7% to $8.89 billion.

Net income in the quarter surged 40% to $259 million or 70 cents a diluted share compared to $185 million or 57 cents. Operating income in the quarter increased 18% to $416 million.

The company expects fiscal 2014 sales to grow as much as $36 billion.

T-Mobile US Inc ((TMUS)) fell 6 cents to $25.99 after the telecommunication service provider said underwriters of previously announced public offering exercised to purchase an additional 6.62 million shares at a price of $25 a share, expected to be approximately of $1.8 billion.

T-Mobile USA, Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary of T-Mobile US, today said its plans to offer senior notes due 2022 and senior notes due 2024 aggregate value of up to $2 billion.