DOW up 161
NASDAQ up 38
S&P up 16
Gold up $16
WTI up $0.96
“12:30 pm : Stocks continue to drift near session highs with all three of the major averages holding gains of 1.1%.
Wabtec (WAB 76.00, +4.70) is trading up 6.6% after issuing upside guidance for the first quarter. The company projects earnings per share of $1.20 which is well above the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.03. Wabtec also boosted its guidance for fiscal year 2012, saying it now expected to earn $4.80 per share versus its previous estimate of $4.30. Strength in the global freight rail market, including demand for new freight cars and locomotives, was cited for the positive guidance.DJ30 147.09 NASDAQ +34.89 SP500 +15.23 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1818/650.3 mln/604 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2405/301.9 mln/589
12:00 pm : Stocks have slipped off their best levels, but all three of the major averages still hold gains of 1.0% or more. The Nasdaq continues to lead the advance, trading up 1.2%.
Tractor Supply (TSCO 98.00, +5.70) is trading up 6.2% after issuing upside guidance for the first quarter. The company projects earnings per share of $0.53-$0.55 which is well above the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.31 per share. The company also sees revenues of $1.02 billion which is better than the consensus of $937.0 million. Strong same store sales figures are credited for the boost in guidance as the early start to spring pulled sales forward and will provide an estimated benefit of $0.09 to $0.11 per share. DJ30 +138.09 NASDAQ +36.10 SP500 +14.19 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1796/575.7 mln/600 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2377/271.1 mln/595
11:30 am : The major indices are trading at their best levels of the session with all three seeing gains in excess of 1.0%. The Nasdaq leads the advance with a gain of 1.3%, but the Dow and S&P lag just behind with 1.1% gains.
Gold miners are seeing a strong bid this morning as the precious metal trades up 0.8% at $1674.50 per ounce. Today’s buying comes on renewed prospects of more quantitative easing following this morning’s weaker than expected claims data. Barrick Gold (ABX 42.13, +1.09) andNewmont Mining (NEM 49.14, +1.14) are among the top performers in the space. DJ30 +144.18 NASDAQ +37.81 SP500 +14.58 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1811/503.6 mln/564 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2393/239.1 mln/567
11:00 am : All three of the major market averages hold gains in excess of 1.0% despite today’s disappointing initial claims data.
Avid Technology (AVID 8.79, -1.49) is down 14.5% after issuing downside guidance for first quarter revenues. The company is now calling for revenues of $152 million ($161.1 million Capital IQ Consensus Estimate), saying the shortfall is due to weaker demand in the creative enthusiast portion of its business. That number would represent a 30% decline in revenues on a year over year basis. DJ30 +120.41 NASDAQ +33.31 SP500 +13.05 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1726/401.0 mln/606 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2303/200.0 mln/617
10:35 am : Crude oil and precious metals surged in recent trade as the dollar index extends losses to a new session low. However, the dollar index was declining at just a modest rate.
In the energy space, ahead of the sharp rally a short while ago, May crude oil was barely in the red before surging into positive territory. Since surging earlier, crude continues to hit new session highs. Most recently, crude ran as high as $103.88/barrel and is now +1.1% at $103.83.
May natural gas has been in positive territory all session, excluding a couple of brief moments where the energy component dipped into the red. Following inventory data, which showed a build of 8 bcf vs consensus of a build of 20 bcf, nat gas spiked to a new session high of $2.07 and is now +2.9% at $2.04/MMbtu.
In metals, Apr gold and May silver surged sharply along with crude and are both just extended gains to new session highs again a few minutes ago. Gold ran as high as $1674.90/oz, while silver hit a new session high of $32.26. Currently, gold is +0.8% at $1673.90 and silver is +2.4% at $32.27/oz.DJ30 75.23 NASDAQ 20.69 SP500 8.08 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1462/286 mln/811 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1967/154 mln/858
10:00 am : The major averages hold near session highs with all three trading up 0.7%.
Shares of Google (GOOG 642.38, +6.42) trade up 1.0% as traders bid the stock up ahead of the company’s earnings which are due out after the close. The Capital IQ Consensus Estimate is calling for earnings of $9.64 per share and revenues of $10.58 bln.DJ30 +78.37 NASDAQ +19.78 SP500 +8.55 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1487/162.7 mln/688 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2062/103.0 mln/698
09:45 am : The major market averages all hold gains of close to 0.4% in the opening minutes of trade. The stronger bias comes despite this morning’s disappointing initial claims data. Materials (+1.0%), industrials (+0.8%), and telecom (+0.6%) are the top performers while consumer staples (-0.3%) and utilities (-0.3%) lag. DJ30 +44.43 NASDAQ +14.94 SP500 +5.05 NASDAQ Vol 93.1 mln NYSE Vol 70.2 mln”
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