Dow, Apple Up, Facebook Hits Another Low

By Zunaira Zaki
@ZunairaZaki
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day at 13,275.20 up 25.09 points or 0.19 percent.

Both the Dow and S&P 500 are now higher for the sixth straight week, their longest winning streak since January 2011.

There’s been a dribble of good news driving markets this week.  Data earlier in the week showed that home builders applied for more permits, a hopeful sign for future construction.  Also some retailers including Gap reported strong earnings.

Notes of caution:  Best not to get too excited about summer market moves since there are fewer people trading and there isn’t a lot of news to react to.  Europe for instance is on vacation, providing a break to the steady supply of bad economic news from there.

Markets are likely also emboldened by the prospect of action by central banks in the U.S. and EU.

A NEW HIGH AND A NEW LOW

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) stock hit an all time high of $648.11 amid rumors that the company will debut a new iPhone, iPad mini and Apple TV in coming weeks.

Meanwhile Facebook stock (Nadaq: FB) hit a new low since its troubled IPO.  The stock closed at 19.05, down 50 percent from its $38 IPO price.

Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) also hit a low closing price of $4.75, down more than three-quarters from its initial public offering price of $20 last November.

OIL ENDS THE DAY HIGHER

Despite rumblings that the U.S. may tap into the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserves, oil settled at $96.01 in New York trading today, up 41 cents for the day.  Oil is trading well below highs of  more than $100 a barrel seen early this year but hit $96 for the first time since May.