Stock Market News for December 10, 2009

U.S. stocks snapped a two-day losing streak as a declining dollar and analyst upgrades of 3M and Sprint Nextel helped overcome concerns about rising debt levels globally.  Trading remained erratic as sentiments wavered on the Street.     

At the end of the session, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 51 points, or 0.5%.  The S&P 500 index added 4 points, or 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 11 points, or 0.5%.  On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing shares beat those that declined in price eight to seven on volume of 1.08 billion shares.  Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.42% from 3.38% late Tuesday.  The market’s measure of volatility, the CBOE Vix, declined 4.4% to 22.66. 

Meanwhile, Standard & Poor’s lowered its credit rating on Spain to “negative,” fuelling concerns that balance sheet problems would continue to give jitters in the times to come.  The lowered rating on Spain came a day after Fitch lowered its credit rating on Greece.  Meanwhile, Dubai’s sinking credibility received another jolt as scientists said one of its islands, Jumeirah, may be sinking.

On the DJIA, action was almost even as sixteen of the thirty components notched up gains, led by a 3.4% jump in 3M (NYSE:MMM - Analyst Report).  Shares in 3M gained after Citigroup (NYSE:C - Analyst Report) upgraded the firm to "buy" from "hold." Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ - Analyst Report) climbed 2.1% after its CFO, speaking at a Barclays Tech Conference, said the company is witnessing additional demand and opportunities for its products and services.  Pfizer (NYSE:PFE - Analyst Report) advanced 2.7% after a Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS - Snapshot Report) analyst noted the company may make a decision by mid-month to hike its dividend by as much as 15%.

AK Steel (NYSE:AKS - Analyst Report) led the gainers on the S&P500 after announcing plans to increase prices for carbon steel products by $30 per ton. Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S - Analyst Report) rose 5.6% after a Citigroup (NYSE:C - Analyst Report) analyst said a combination with T-Mobile USA within the next year was likely, and lifted the rating to "buy."

At home, Moody's Investor Services (NYSE:MCO - Analyst Report) warned the US economy's growth may prove insufficient to contain the deficit, which jumped to a record $1.4 trillion in September.  And Treasury Secretary Geithner told Congress that the Administration is extending TARP, the $700 billion financial-rescue program, until next October, to guard against the potential for additional shocks to the system.

Read the full analyst report on MMM

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Read the full analyst report on C

Read the full analyst report on HPQ

Read the full analyst report on PFE

Read the full analyst report on CS

Read the full analyst report on AKS

Read the full analyst report on MCO