After Friday's huge losses in the stock market, the equity markets were able to finish slightly higher today. The major indices all opened lower and were lower by almost 1% early this morning before flip flopping numerous times during the day, only to finish the day higher. The Dow gained 45 points or .33%. The Nasdaq showed some nice relative strength, gaining 29 points, or 1.06%. The S&P 500 rose by just less than 6 points, or 0.38%.
Technology stocks did lead the way higher today. NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq:NVDA) gained 4.73% today, finishing just off its 52 week high. Garmin Limited (Nasdaq:GRMN) shares jumped 4.61% today as the stock continues to be boosted by rumors of it being acquired. Xerox Corporation (NYSE:XRX) shares rose by 3.06% after reporting impressive earnings and subsequently being upgraded. Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX) rose by 3.35% on some nice volume today.
Retailers that have been hurt in recent trading saw a nice rebound today. Macy's Inc. (NYSE:M) gained 2.35% today to lead the department stores higher. Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS) shares rose by 1.91%. Sears Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq:SHLD) was the major standout today, gaining 4.13% on nearly double its average volume. A couple of specialty retailers that have recently traded near their 52 week lows were very strong today. Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE:ARO) shot higher by 7.3%, while Chico's FAS Inc. (NYSE:CHS) jumped by 9.35%.
The basic material sector was the weakest today, trading to the downside rather significantly. The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) fell by 3.86%, trading to the downside today after extreme strength in the past few months. Gold stocks were weak today as the commodity itself lost significant ground. Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE:GG) lost 3.1%, and Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX) fell 3.05%.
Energy stocks were also rather weak today as oil prices fell below $88 a barrel on economic worries. Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) continued its massive decline from Friday, losing another 4.01% today. Ultra Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:UPL) fell by 4.03% on heavy volume today.
The volume today wasn't bad, but it was far from Friday's volume numbers. The Nasdaq traded about 2 billion shares, while the NYSE traded around 1.4 billion shares. The number of stocks hitting new lows outpaced new highs by a staggering 206 to 33 level on the NYSE.
The reversal to the plus side today shows that the bulls are still out there and looking to buy stocks on the selloffs. I think the market will continue to be volatile and is still susceptible to further downside risk in the short-term, but on these large pullbacks like Friday I do think it is prudent to start averaging into the market by picking up some of your favorite stocks while they are down.
The economic data picture is very light this week, but tommorrow we have another huge slate of earnings reports which are sure to move the markets.
If you have any comments or questions feel free to email me at aaron@growyourfunds.com
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