NEW YORK: U.S. stocks ended a smidgen higher in very light trading on Wednesday, Dec 30 as a stronger-than-expected report on Midwest U.S. business activity was offset by investors taking profits in some of the year's better performers, according to Reuters.
Still, the Dow and the Nasdaq eked out fresh highs for the year. The Standard & Poor's benchmark index is up 25 percent for 2009, putting it on track for its best year since 2003.
Most of the advance is the result of the nine-month rally the market has seen as investors turned bullish on prospects for the economic recovery. The S&P 500 is up a whopping 66.5 percent since its March 9 closing low.
On Wednesday, the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer surged to a four-year high, topping forecasts, on a recovery in employment and an acceleration in new orders.
DuPont, a Dow component, gained 0.5 percent to close at US$34.05 on the New York Stock Exchange.
On the down side, Microsoft Corp, up 59.3 percent for the year, was among the biggest drags on both the Dow and the Nasdaq. The stock slipped 1.4 percent to US$30.96 on Nasdaq.
"We've had such a nice run up over the last two weeks. I think the best-case scenario is probably baked into stock prices at this point," said Angel Mata, managing director of listed equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets in Baltimore.
Oracle Corp, up 41 percent for 2009, was down 0.3 percent at US$24.93.
In its run higher this year, the market has been underpinned by strength in the TECHNOLOGY [] and materials sectors on expectations the economic recovery will spur capital spending and increase demand for natural resources. The S&P information technology sector is up 62 percent since the start of the year, while the S&P materials index is up 47 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.10 points, or 0.03 percent, to end at 10,548.51 on Wednesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index edged up just 0.22 of a point, or 0.02 percent, to finish at 1,126.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.88 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 2,291.28.
Wednesday's tiny gains followed a modest decline in Tuesday's session, when stocks snapped a six-day streak of gains.
Investors appeared unfazed by a brief evacuation of the Nasdaq Times Square, New York, offices amid an investigation of a suspicious vehicle near its building. Nasdaq said trading was not affected.
While investors looked to the data for signs a recovery is taking hold, some traders have moved to safer assets like the dollar to lock in profits after a strong 2009.
The U.S. dollar hit a three-month high against the yen on year-end flows in thin trade and the belief that the U.S. economy is on the road to recovery.
Semiconductor stocks gained after Kaufman Bros upgraded both Marvell Technology Group Ltd and Nvidia Corp to "buy," saying they could benefit from improved demand for personal computers.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index gained 1.5 percent. Marvell added 2.8 percent to US$20.83 and Nvidia shot up 3.6 percent to US$18.67, both in Nasdaq trading. - Reuters