Courtesy of John Nyaradi.
U.S. stock markets rally into the close on no news
After a volatile day of trading mostly in the red, U.S. stock indexes staged an impressive rally during the last few minutes of trading to close modestly lower for the session.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: (NYSEARCA:DIA) -0.2%
S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY) -0.2%
Nasdaq 100 (NYSEARCA:QQQ) -0.9%
Russell 2000 (NYSEARCA:IWM) -0.04%
J.P. Morgan was hammered today, down 2.5% on rumors its trading losses could be much higher than the previously reported $2 Billion but all eyes remained on the European summit and what news might or might not come from that pivotal meeting.
The Supreme Court upheld “ObamaCare” but the big news centered on Europe where Cyprus needs help and Greece is still looking for some sort of extension or modification of its bailout agreement.
Unemployment claims were almost flat, down slightly from last week, and 1Q GDP remained unchanged at a tepid 1.9%.
Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) lost 1.5% to close at $1550 and oil (NYSEARCA:USO) fell to $77.69, 3.4%, on concerns over Europe and a global economic slowdown.
Spanish bond yields jumped to 6.94% for the 10 year bond, at the unsustainable 10% level and Italy’s 10 year yield declined slightly to 6.19%.
While J.P. Morgan was having a personalized banking crisis in the United States, Barclay’s Plc of Britain, was having a meltdown of its own after taking a $450 million fine for trying to manipulate LIBOR rates. The exact extent of these potential losses is unknown but many analysts suggest it could go much higher.
Finally in an announcement from the European summit, Herman Van Rompuy announced a plan to boost growth in Europe that includes 120 billion Euros.
Bottom line: Tomorrow will be an exciting close to an exciting week as we hear more from Europe and get several significant economic reports including Chicago PMI, personal income and spending and University of Michigan Consumer Confidence.
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