Reply #42: 3:13 headin' into the home stretch [View All]

[54anickel]

Dow 10,578.81 +23.88 (+0.23%)
Nasdaq 2,138.06 +1.98 (+0.09%)
S&P 500 1,221.48 +2.46 (+0.20%)
10-yr Bond 4.209% -0.01
30-yr Bond 4.42% -0.01
NYSE Volume 1,223,062,000
Nasdaq Volume 982,914,000

3:00PM: Broader market takes a hit on news that Merck (MRK 29.31, -1.10) is to be held liable on all three counts in the death of a Texas man who took Vioxx... Merck has said it will appeal the decision (no surprise there), but the implication that the verdict in the Ernst case will put it at risk of losing other suits related to Vioxx is taking a heavy toll on its stock... Despite the drop in Merck's price, which has weighed on other drug makers like Pfizer (PFE 25.71, -0.17), both the Dow and S&P are holding their ground in positive territory... NYSE Adv/Dec 1832/1377, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1579/1329
2:30PM: Market is little changed since the last update; in fact, it has traded in a very tight range for the better part of the afternoon trade... A spike in oil prices and a lack of concerted sector leadership have impeded its upside, whereas, gains in some of the market's biggest stocks, like IBM (IBM 82.95, +1.80), have kept the market from succumbing to downside pressure... Outside of Energy Services (+1.46%), the change in the remaining nine sectors ranges from a loss of 0.38% (Consumer Discretionary) to a gain of 0.56% (Utilities)... NYSE Adv/Dec 1890/1304, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1620/1298

2:00PM: Oil prices are up noticeably today, but the stock market has refused to buckle as gains in large-cap issues have helped keep the major indices north of the unchanged mark... Two Dow components - IBM (IBM 83.01, +1.86) and Caterpillar (CAT 54.84, +1.69) - are accounting for the majority of the gains in the blue chip average which, strikingly, is split at the moment with 15 components up and 15 down... The biggest laggards of the day include Wal-Mart (WMT 46.68, -0.56) and Altria Group (MO 69.84, -0.55)...