dow-jones
The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 Index marked six consecutive gains for the month of April. More than 80% of 300 companies of S&P 500 reported results have either met or exceeded expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 47 points or 0.37% at 12,810 on Friday. It was up 2.4% for week, up 4% MTD and up 10.65% YTD.
NASDAQ Composite ended flat at 2,873. It gained 3.3% MTD and was up 8.3% YTD.
S&P 500 Index ended up 3 points or 0.23% at 1364. Index rose 1.96% for week, up 2.85% MTD and was up 8.4% YTD.
US Advancing Sectors: Energy gained 1.5%, Industrials went up 0.3% and Materials moved up 0.2%.
CBOE VIX ended up 1% at 14.77 on Friday. It was up 0.5% for week while it was down 16.7% MTD and down 15.8% YTD.
CBOE VIX posted its third consecutive monthly decline, with losing nearly 17% in April.
European markets ended at 8-week closing high: CAC was up 0.05%, DAX up 0.52% and FTSE up 0.03%.
Alert: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand & U.K. stock markets are shut today
US Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment fell in April to 68.9, from 70.6 in March
US Personal income rose 0.5% in March, and personal spending rose 0.6%
US Chicago purchasing managers’ index for April increased at 67.6, from 70.6 in March
China Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 52.9 from 53.4 while market expected 53.9
Dollar Index was down 0.2%, near two-year lows
Dollar Index has its biggest monthly drop since September
Dollar went up 5 basis points versus Euro at 1.4816
Yen was up 44 basis points versus USD at 81.17
Commodities
Crude oil gained USD 1 at USD 113.84/barrel
Natural gas climbed USD 0.13 at USD 4.76 per MMBtu
Gold gained USD 25.10 at USD 1556.3/ounce – hit a new record high near USD 1570/ounce
Silver up USD 1.02 at USD 48.54/ounce
Monday: ISM manufacturing index, construction spending, first GOP Presidential debate,; earnings from Anadarko
Tuesday: US Factory orders, auto sales, Bristol-Myers shareholder meeting,; earnings from Pfizer, MasterCard, Comcast and CBS
Wednesday: Weekly mortgage applications, Challenger job-cut report, ADP employment report, ISM non-manufacturing index, oil inventories, earnings from Anheuser-Busch, AOL, Kellogg, Electronic Arts, MetLife, News Corp, Transocean and Whole Foods
Thursday: Bank of England rate announcement, European Central Bank announcement, chain store sales, jobless claims, productivity and costs, Fed Chairman Bernanke speaks, earnings from GM, AIG, Kraft and Visa
Friday: Non-farm payroll report, consumer credit, Alcoa shareholder meeting, flash crash anniversary; earnings from Constellation Energy and Berkshire Hathaway
