Stock Market News for May 13, 2014 – Zacks Investment Research

The Dow and the S&P 500 closed at record highs on Monday primarily boosted by gains in Internet and bio-tech stocks. Merger and acquisition activity in the food industry too boosted investor sentiment. The day’s economic report was limited to Treasury budget, which reported a surplus of $107.0 billion.

For a look at the issues currently facing the markets, make sure to read today’s Ahead of Wall Street article

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 0.7% to close Monday’s trading session at 16,695.47. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500) rose almost 1.0% to finish at 1,896.65. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index went up 1.8% to 4,143.86. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) plunged 5.3% to settle at 12.23. Total volume for the day was roughly 5.8 billion shares, lower than this month’s average of 6.2 billion. Advancers outpaced declining stocks on the NYSE. For 76% stocks that advanced, 21% declined.

Gains in the Internet and bio-tech stocks helped the benchmarks finish at record highs. The S&P 500 registered the best one-day percentage gain since April 16. The Dow reached an intra-day high and the Nasdaq gained the most in more than three months.

Internet stocks from the Technology sector such as Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN), Yelp, Inc. (NYSE:YELP), LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE:LNKD), FireEye, Inc. (NASDAQ:FEYE), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Twitter, Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) gained 4.5%, 2.2%, 1.7%, 4.4%, 2.4%, 7.9%, 2.0% and 5.9%, respectively.

Stocks such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) AT&T, Inc. (NYSE:T) and Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) increased 1.2%, 1.1%, 1.3%, 0.4% and 2.2%, respectively. Overall, the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) rose 1.4%.

Shares of online retailer Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Internet television network provider Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), online travel company TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP) and The Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ:PCLN) went up 3.6%, 5.1%, 5.8% and 2.4%, respectively.

Also, shares of momentum stocks such as electric car maker Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Internet radio service provider Pandora Media, Inc. (NYSE:P) advanced 1.3% and 6.0%, respectively.

Bio-tech stocks too boosted the broader markets on Monday. Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) and Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) increased 0.7%, 4.1%, 0.2%, 4.9% and 2.6%, respectively.

Benchmarks also ended higher due to gains in the Industrial sector. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) rose 1.5%. Key stocks from the sector such as General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX), Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP), The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) increased 1.6%, 1.4%, 1.2%, 1.1% and 1.1%, respectively.

A new deal between Pinnacle Foods Inc. (NYSE:PF) and The Hillshire Brands Company (NYSE:HSH) was welcomed by the investors. Hillshire Brands agreed to buy Pinnacle Foods for about $4.3 billion in cash and stock. Including debt, the deal is valued at $6.6 billion. Pinnacle Foods shareholders will receive $18.00 in cash and 0.50 shares of Hillshire Brands for every Pinnacle share they own, amounting to total consideration of $36.48. Shares of Pinnacle Foods surged 13.2% while shares of the maker of Jimmy Dean sausages and Sara Lee frozen bakery goods dropped 3.2%.

Coming to economic data, according to the Department of the Treasury, total budget receipts aggregated to $414.0 billion in April, a surplus of $107.0 billion. The surplus was less than the consensus estimate of a surplus of $114.6 billion.

Nine out of 10 sectors of the S&P 500 ended in the green. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) led the advance among the S&P 500 sectors. The sector rose 2.2%. Key housing stocks such as PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM), Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN), DR Horton Inc. (NYSE:DHI) and Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE:BZH) increased 2.8%, 2.2%, 2.8% and 0.5%, respectively.

View post: 

Stock Market News for May 13, 2014 – Zacks Investment Research

See which stocks are being affected by Social Media