U.S. stocks finished decidedly higher on Monday amid dovish comments from Fed Chair Yellen and easing geopolitical concerns surrounding Ukraine. The bulls closed the last day of the quarter on a high note with Healthcare, Technology, and Industrials leading gains. Energy and Telecom relatively underperformed. Gold and Oil are lower, as is the dollar which fell against the euro but is set for a monthly gain.
In her first public speech today in Chicago, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen gave a strong defense of the central bank's easy-money policies, saying its "extraordinary" commitment to boosting the economy, especially the still struggling labor market, will be needed for some time to come.
The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer came in at 55.9 for March, its lowest level since August and down from 59.8 in February. The reading also missed Economists' forecast of 59.9.
In other news, Russia reiterated they have no plans to invade Ukraine. However, Secretary of State John Kerry said he received no assurances from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Russia would pull back troops from the Ukraine border.
Market Indices/Statistics:
- Dow closed up 134.60 pts. / +0.82% to 16,457.66; 26 of the 30 Dow stocks closed higher.
- S&P closed down 14.72 pts. / +0.79% to 1,872.34; 9 of the 10 S&P 500 sectors closed higher.
- Nasdaq closed up 43.23 pts. / +1.04% to 4,198.99
- Healthcare was the strongest sector (+1.26%) Energy was the weakest sector (-0.03%)
- The VIX is down 0.53 at 13.88
- Gold is down 9.8 to 1284.5
- Oil is down 0.17 to 101.50
- Nat Gas is down 0.106 to 4.379
- Yen vs. Dollar is up 0.43 to 103.22
- Euro vs. Dollar is up 0.0025 to 1.3777
- The US Dollar Index (DXY) is down 0.10 to 80.09
Top Headlines:
Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) said on Monday an independent committee unanimously recommended it close a late-stage clinical trial of a chronic heart failure drug early, following strong interim efficacy results, giving the Swiss drugmaker a boost after recent setbacks to another heart failure medicine. American depositary shares of NVS rose 4.20% to $85.02 in active NY trading.
Shares of Edwards Life Sciences Corp (NYSE:EW) gained 4.23% to $74.17 after a new study showed their minimally invasive aortic heart valve replacement system yielded superior results over traditional surgery in extending lives of patients with diseased aortic valves.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) closed 0.81% higher at $98.23 while hitting an intraday all-time-high of $98.60 after announcing it has accepted Carlyle Group LP's offer to acquire its ortho-clinical diagnostics business for about $4 billion.
Earnings after the bell:
Flexible Solutions (FSI) reports FY EPS $0.14 items vs year-ago ($0.08)
Lifeway Foods (LWAY) reports Q4 EPS ($0.03) vs year-ago $0.07
Verint Systems (VRNT) reports Q4 EPS $0.91 ex-items vs FactSet $0.84
WidePoint (WYY) reports FY net income ($1.2M) vs 25-Feb guidance of ($1.2M)-($1.4M)
Coming Tuesday
U.S. Economic Reports:
ICSC-Goldman Chain Store Sales (Weekly) at 7:45am, prior 1.3%
Redbook Chain Store Sales (Weekly) at 8:55am, prior (0.7%)
PMI Manufacturing (Mar) at 9:45am ET – consensus 56.8, prior 55.5
ISM Manufacturing Index (Mar) at 10:00am ET – consensus 54.0, prior 53.2
Construction Spending (Feb) at 10:00am ET – consensus 0.0%, prior +0.1%
Earnings Tuesday:
Saratoga Resources (SARA) est. (0.02); Apollo Group (APOL) est. $0.19
Here at the NYSE- Opening and Closing Bells
At the open:
On Tuesday, April 1, Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan, stars of Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” will join Marvel Entertainment executives to ring the Opening Bell at the NYSE. Marvel Studios’ latest highly-anticipated film Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" hits theatres nationwide on Friday, April 4, 2014.
At the close:
On Tuesday, April 1, Smile Train CEO Susannah Schaefer, joined by Smile Train staff and supporters, will ring The Closing Bell® at The New York Stock Exchange in anticipation of the organization’s one millionth cleft repair surgery in just 15 years.
Please remember to check in with us every morning for the NYSE Morning Update!
Thanks and have a great evening
