It would be a five-day winning streak if not for the marginal loss on Tuesday. Over the longer course of time, with today’s gain of 13.50 handles at 4003.50, the index has added 174.50 handles or 4.5%, Not a bad start to the year.
An inline reading of the December Consumer Price Index allowed the bulls to be in control of the price action. The bears made a few solid attempts to ruin the day, but the underlying demand, for those who had missed out on the rally, was apparent on both occasions.
Now the bears are leaning on a poor Q4 earnings season that kicks off tomorrow morning with JP Morgan & Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) taking the spotlight ahead of the opening. That report may not be the one the bears can lean on as banks tend to do well in the current rising interest rate environment.
The only negative for the index is that it was unable to push through the premarket and move deeper into the 4000 handle. The main positive is that the index posted its first close above 4000 for the first time since December 14.
A good report from Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM) was the catalyst to make Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA), the biggest winner of the top components of the index. For the session, the issue gained $5.10 or 3.19% to close at $164.80.
That was much better than the cash index’s small gain of 0.34%.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was the biggest loser of the top components of the index. For the session, the issue declined by $0.88 or 0.50%.
PreMarket Prep Stock Of The Day: S&P Index Futures (varies on platforms) or SPDR S&P 500 ETF (ARCX: SPY)
The rally continues after inline December Consumer Price Index release. Read more on SPY here.
