Energy and financials power Wall Street's rise

Yesterday, with the passage of the tax bill, the market took a little breather with a 28 point dip.  Today the toes were back in the water testing the temps and, with a pick up in bank and energy stocks, investors got a little 55 point boost.  The market appears to be very optimistic about the coming year.  New Q3 data showing that the economy had grown at its fastest pace in more than two years helped the boost too.  At 6.1 billion shares, volume was below the 6.9 billion 4-week average. 

thu  DECEMBER 21, 2017 / 5:39 pM

Energy and financials power Wall Street's rise

April Joyner

DJ:  24,782.29  +55.64       NAS:  6,965.36  +4.40          S&P:  2,684.57  +5.32       12/21

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The three main U.S. stock indexes rose on Thursday, boosted by bank and energy stocks as investors bet on more economically sensitive sectors.  Energy .SPNY and financial .SPSY stocks led gains among the 11 major S&P sectors. Financials have gained 21 percent this year, compared with a 20 percent gain for the S&P 500. Energy, by contrast, has underperformed this year, with a 4.2 percent loss year-to-date, and some analysts suggested that Thursday’s gains reflected a rotation to stocks particularly responsive to economic growth. 

 “Today of late, (energy has) picked up significantly,” said John Stoltzfus, chief investmentstrategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management in New York. “In particular, it reflects the effect of growth outside the U.S. and the demand for imports of oil...There’s an opportunity to see oil run further.”  Chevron (CVX.N) shares jumped 3.3 percent. The shares earlier touched a record high of $125.35, after broker Cowen & Co raised its price target on the stock by nearly a third to $160. 

The U.S. Congress approved a $1.5-trillion tax bill this week that will slash corporate income tax rates to 21 percent from 35 percent. Investors are hopeful that the lower rates will prompt companies to spend more on dividends and share buybacks.  “There’s still the after-effects of tax reform being passed,” said Michael Antonelli, managing director at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee. “I get the sense that the market is very optimistic about next year.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 55.64 points, or 0.23 percent, to 24,782.29, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 5.32 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,684.57 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 4.40 points, or 0.06 percent, to 6,965.36. 

Adding to the upbeat sentiment, third-quarter data showed that the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in more than two years, powered by robust business spending.  A separate report showed a jump in the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week, but the underlying trend in jobless claims remained consistent with a tightening labor market.

The utilities sector .SPLRCU, among sectors likely to benefit the least from tax cuts, fell 1.2 percent, in a fourth consecutive day of declines.  Shares of Accenture PLC (ACN.N) rose 1.6 percent after the consulting and outsourcing services provider reported a quarterly profit that topped Wall Street forecasts, driven by digital and cloud services business. The shares earlier hit a record high of $158.44. 

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.54-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.60-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

Volume so far on U.S. exchanges was 6.08 billion shares, compared to the 6.88 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.