Even though the markets trimmed the intra-day rally during closing hours on Wednesday, the benchmarks still moved modestly upward to achieve new highs. After-effects of the snowstorm in the Northeast continued to keep investors away from the Street. In addition, the ongoing holiday season has kept trading volume on the thinner side, while investors wait optimistically for a fresh start next year.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.09% and closed at 11,585.38. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.11% to close at 1,259.78. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day 0.15% higher at 2,666.93. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell to just above 17. On the New York Stock Exchange, the advance decline ratio was 2:1 and volumes were a modest 1.9 billion.
Amid light volume trading, S&P 500 registered highest gains for the month of December since 1991 and also had the lowest number of down days in a month. The S&P 500 index dipped on just 3 days in December 2010. The Dow also registered its highest close since August 2008 and is now two days behind closing at a double digit gain for the year 2010.
The absence of new releases for economic data also resisted the indices from undergoing major swings. However, a few economic data releases are lined up for Thursday. The National Association of Realtors is likely to report the pending sales figures for previously owned homes in November. The Institute of for Supply Management in Chicago is also expected to announce data on US business expansion in December.
On a sectoral basis, energy and materials performed better on Wednesday. Shares of Halliburton HAL jumped 2.7% to close at $40.69, Occidental Petroleum OXY rose 1.4% to close at $99.03 and Schlumberger SLB ended the day at $83.63, up 1.7%. Noble Energy NBL gained 2.6% after it confirmed an offshore property in Israel which was the country's largest natural gas discovery.
Coming to individual counters, shares of Sears Holdings SHLD sprung 6.4% after the company launched its on-demand video service. Biopharmaceutical company GenVec GNVC soared 5.5% after the company announced that Sanofi-Aventis's SNY animal health unit Merial and GenVec will work together to commercialize GenVec's vaccine technology for the treatment of foot and mouth disease. Shares of Google GOOG and Yahoo YHOO rose 0.35% and 1.1% respectively after Hudson Square Research initiated coverage on both the companies with a “buy” rating.
GENVEC INC (GNVC): Free Stock Analysis Report
GOOGLE INC-CL A (GOOG): Free Stock Analysis Report
HALLIBURTON CO (HAL): Free Stock Analysis Report
NOBLE ENERGY (NBL): Free Stock Analysis Report
OCCIDENTAL PET (OXY): Free Stock Analysis Report
SEARS HLDG CP (SHLD): Free Stock Analysis Report
SCHLUMBERGER LT (SLB): Free Stock Analysis Report
SANOFI-AVENTIS (SNY): Free Stock Analysis Report
YAHOO! INC (YHOO): Free Stock Analysis Report
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