Broad based strong rally at Wall Street rally

Dow crosses the 9,000 mark for first time since January, 2009

US stocks witnessed a strong rally on Thursday, 23 July, 2009. The broad based rally took place as earning reports came pouring in and majority of the important names beat Wall Street expectations. Earnings announcements sent all three major indices to their best levels in months. Though most of the move came in the first half of the session, stocks were able to hold steady in the afternoon and close just off of session highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 188 points at 9,069. The Nasdaq Composite Index, ended higher by 47 points at 1,973. S&P 500 ended higher by 22.22 points at 976.

All ten sectors ended in the green today led by the materials, financial and telecom sectors. Dow crossed the 9,000 mark for first time since January, 2009. S&P 500 finished at its highest point since November. The Nasdaq
traded at its highest level since October.

The telecom sector showed good strength today after the lead of AT&T reported a positive earnings surprise.

In other earnings news, better-than-expected earnings announcements from a wide range of industry players have helped fuel broad-based buying. 3M, Qualcomm, Ford and McDonald's all topped Wall Street's earnings estimates. Ebay and Sandisk also beat estimates.

In the financial sector, there was a positive reaction to the latest quarterly report
from regional lender Fifth Third Bank.

Among economic reports for the day, The National Association of Realtors reported on Thursday, 23 July, 2009 that resales of U.S. single-family homes and condos rose 3.6% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million, the highest level since October, 2008. Resales have risen for three straight months for the first time in more than five years. The inventory of unsold homes on the market fell 0.7% to 3.82 million in June. This is a 9.4-month supply at the June sales pace, down from 9.8 months in May.

In a separate report, The Labor Department reported on Thursday, 23 July, 2009 that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits bounced higher in the latest week, rising by 30,000 to a total of 554,000. Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of initial claims, a measure of the underlying employment trend, fell by 19,000 to 566,000. It was the lowest level for the four-week average since late January. Continuing claims for unemployment benefits also fell, down by 88,000 in the week ended 11 July to 6.22 million.

Positive earnings and economic data sent crude price higher on Thursday, 23 July, 2009. Prices have now risen in six out of seven sessions. Yesterday, prices fell as energy department reported increase in crude product stockpiles for last week. On Thursday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for September delivery closed at $67.16/barrel (higher by $1.76 or 2.7%). It rose to a high of $69.5 earlier during the day. Last week, crude ended higher by 6.1%.

All Indian ADRs ended in the green today. ICICI Vank and Infosys Technologies were the main gainers adding 4.7% and 4.3% respectively.

Tomorrow will be another busy day of for earnings reports. In economic data tomorrow, the revised University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading for July is due at 9:55ET.