The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) reversed its recent sideways motion and enjoyed a welcome and decided victory today. "The market started off in positive territory and was able to hold its gains throughout the day," said Schaeffer's Senior Equity Analyst Joe Bell. "Technology, which lagged during most of October, was one of the strongest sectors today. And most of today's news was dominated by earnings reports from big names like Visa (NYSE:V) and Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ:CRUS)."
Markets spiked sharply into positive territory at the open and remained strong through the day, although the afternoon price action was largely sideways. By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was up more than 1%, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) gained about 1.1%, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite (COMP) was the day's outperformer, rallying roughly 1.4%.
Not surprisingly, the CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX) took it on the chin amid the positive momentum, surrendering all of yesterday's gains (and then some) to close down more than 10%. This marked the index's first close south of the $17 mark since Oct. 22.
Today's highlight: "We've got some more mergers and acquisitions activity to add to the list today, as auto-parts manufacturer Williams Controls (NYSEAMEX:WMCO) gained nearly 41% after being bought by Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW)." Bell continued, "We also gained some insight into retailers, as many are starting to release their October same-store sales. So far it has been pretty good, which is another positive sign for consumer discretionary stocks and the overall economy."
More of today's big stories:
And, in case you missed it ... Weekly Contrarian: The Worst May Not Be Over for Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD).
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