Stock Market News for April 21, 2010

Better-than-expected profit reports from some big Wall Street names helped overcome concerns that increased financial regulations would limit banks’ lending abilities and eat into their profits.  Stocks managed to end higher for a second consecutive day as investors picked up stocks from every sector.

Oil prices snapped a three-day losing run, sending energy stocks higher.  Shares in Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM - Analyst Report) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Analyst Report) rose 1% each.  However, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS - Analyst Report) retreated 2% even after reporting a higher-than-estimated profit as trading revenues picked up.  Mining and metal stocks also rallied taking the broader market along with them.

Investors, nevertheless, tried to look beyond Goldman to assess the broader economic picture.  Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Analyst Report), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Analyst Report) all came out with estimate-beating numbers but their shares fell. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 25.01 points, or 0.2%, to 11117.06, helped by gains in Exxon Mobil and Chevron.  A 1.9% jump in energy shares sent the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index up 0.8%.  The Nasdaq composite index advanced 20.20 points, or 0.8%, to 2,500.31.  Four stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange where volume slowed to 1.14 billion shares.  The Vix volatility measure declined 9.3% to 15.73.
 
However, shares in some companies fell even as they reported improved results.  In what appeared to be a classic case of profit booking, Jefferies (NYSE:JEF - Snapshot Report), whose profit nearly doubled from year ago, saw its stock – up 16.5% in recent weeks – plunge 9.2% on Tuesday. 

Shares in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - Analyst Report) slipped 0.1% as its estimate-beating numbers followed by lowered full-year guidance. Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Analyst Report) shares fell 1.5% despite a nickel earnings beat after reporting first quarter sales by drink volume in North America dropped 2%.  IBM (NYSE:IBM - Analyst Report) also incurred the wrath of a cautious investor and the shares fell 1.9% even after the company solid earnings and improved guidance was viewed with suspicion, given a closer look at its backlog.

Involved in a legal tangle, Goldman Sach's (NYSE:GS - Analyst Report) shares dropped 2.1% even as the frim said quarterly earnings grew 91%.  The company's shares have fallen from $185 last Thursday to a near-$160 close on Tuesday.  Goldman issue raises the prospects for increased financial regulations.  This week could see the US Financial Regulation Bill introduced on the Senate floor. And the IMF has brought forth its plan to tax banks' balance sheets to provide against future financial issues.

All ten S&P500 sectors rose on the session, led by the gains in oil and gas shares (+2.1%), and followed by financials (+1.3%), utilities (+1.1%), technology (+0.9%), industrials (+1.0%), consumer services (+0.8%), telecommunications (+0.6%), consumer goods (+0.5%), health care (+0.3%), and basic materials (+0.3%).

Today's session will assess releases from a significant number of key corporate names, including: AT&T (NYSE:T - Analyst Report), Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT - Analyst Report), Boeing (NYSE:BA - Analyst Report), eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY - Analyst Report), Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Analyst Report), McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Analyst Report), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Analyst Report), United Technologies (NYSE:UTX - Analyst Report), and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC - Analyst Report).

Premarket futures do not seem to be too impressed with estimate-topping earnings in the tech sector.  After the close yesterday, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Analyst Report) reported blowout results; shares are up 5.7% in premarket trading. The company said a 131% surge in iPhone sales and a 33% advance in Macintosh computer sales drove revenues 49% higher as earnings of $3.33 exceeded Street estimates of $2.46.

Read the full analyst report on XOM

Read the full analyst report on CVX

Read the full analyst report on GS

Read the full analyst report on KO

Read the full analyst report on JNJ

Read the full analyst report on JEF

Read the full analyst report on JNJ

Read the full analyst report on KO

Read the full analyst report on IBM

Read the full analyst report on T

Read the full analyst report on ABT