A smattering of strong earnings reports as well as unexpectedly good consumer confidence data helped break Wall Streets losing streak in Tuesday trading, on the same day as the board of the Federal Reserve convened its last monthly FOMC meeting under the chairmanship of Ben Bernanke.
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Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.57 percent to 15,928.56
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Standard & Poor’s 500 Index: +0.61 percent top 1,792.50
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NASDAQ: +0.35 percent to 4,097.96
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On the Dow:
Mega drug-manufacturer Pfizer Inc. (PFE) added over 2.50 percent by the closing bell after earnings for the recently-ended period handily beat estimates, while optimism grows about some experimental drug-treatments the company has in its pipeline. Most of the Dow’s components ended the day in the positive, but Cisco Systems (CSCO) and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DD) were down over 1 percent.
On the S&P 500:
Bank of America (BAC) made the highest-volume gains on the day, up nearly 2.60 percent by the closing bell, but tech shares helped send the benchmark index higher. Facebook (FB) , Yahoo! (YHOO) , Xerox (XRX) and Microsoft (MSFT) all closed the day higher.
Apple (AAPL) was a different story, however, with the stock tanking nearly 8 percent by the bell after yesterday’s earnings report disappointed on iPhone sales.
On the NASDAQ:
Data storage device-maker Seagate Technology (STX) was down 11 percent by the bell after its own disappointing balance sheet was released, and semiconductor company Himax Technologies (HIMX) lost over 6 percent after the company’s stock was downgraded.
American Airlines Group ($AAL) was up nearly 6 percent despite its own earnings that showed the company operating at a loss for its recently ended fourth-quarter, but the results were still much better than what analysts had predicted.
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