Dow, Apple Up, Facebook Hits Another Low
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.
CLOSE | POINT CHANGE | % CHANGE | |
Dow | 13,275.20 | 25.09 | 0.19% |
S&P 500 | 1,418.16 | 2.65 | 0.19% |
Nasdaq | 3,076.59 | 14.2 | 0.46% |