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Stock Market News for May 09, 2017

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Wall Street’s ‘Fear Gauge’ index touched its lowest level in almost two-decades on Monday after Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential election. Macron’s victory helped to alleviate geopolitical concerns over France’s possible exit from the European Union. However, such a victory was widely anticipated and, as a result, all the three major indexes remained almost unchanged. Energy shares, meanwhile, registered gains due to uptick in oil prices.

For a look at the issues currently facing the markets, make sure to read today’s Ahead of Wall Street article.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 5.34 points to close at 21,012.28. The S&P 500 rose 0.09 points to a record close at 2,399.38, after hitting all-time intraday high of 2,401.23. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.90 points to a record close at 6,102.66. A total of around 6.3 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 6.6 billion shares. Decliners outnumbered advancing stocks on the NYSE by a 1.23 to 1 ratio.  

CBOE Volatility Index Hits Its Lowest Level

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) finished at its lowest level since December 1993. VIX registered a decline of 7.6% and fell to 9.77 following centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron’s win over his euro skeptic rival Marine Le Pen in the final round of the French presidential election. Emmanuel Macron's victory in the French presidential election on Sunday eased out geopolitical tensions regarding France’s exit from the European Union. 

According to official tallies, Emmanuel Macron secured about 66.1% of the votes, compared to his rival Le Pen who secured 33.9% of vote. Earlier, Marine Le Pen had called for exiting the Euro, leading to fears of a possible “Frexit”. A Frexit would have caused significant geopolitical instability in the Euro zone as France is a key member of both the Eurozone and the European Union. Macron’s victory, which was widely expected,eliminated the prospect of such an outcome. This result lifted investor confidence in the U.S. which ultimately had a positive impact on the broader markets.

Oil Prices Increased

Oil prices continued to move north on Monday following a comment from Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Khalid Al-Falih at the Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur. Khalid Al-Falih hinted about a possible extension of cuts in crude production by major oil producers including Russia. OPEC and non-OPEC members including Russia are expected to extend production cuts beyond this year.

WTI crude prices gained by $0.21, or 0.5%, to $46.43 a barrel. The broader Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) advanced 0.7%, emerging as one of the best performing sectors of S&P 500. Some of the key holdings of the energy sector in the S&P 500 including EOG Resources (EOG - Free Report) , ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report)  and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM - Free Report)  gained by 0.9%, 0.8% and 1.1% respectively. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Stocks that made Headlines

AMC Entertainment Beats on Q1 Earnings and Revenues

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC - Free Report) reported strong financial results in the first quarter of 2017 wherein both the top line and the bottom line outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate. (Read More)

EOG Resources Q1 Earnings in Line, Revenues Beat

Upstream energy company EOG Resources Inc. reported first-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings of 15 cents, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. (Read More)

Marriott Tops Q1 Earnings, Lifts ’17 View, Stock Up

Shares of Marriott International Inc. (MAR - Free Report) rose nearly 5% in after-hour trading on May 8, after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter 2017 results. (Read More)

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