For the second consecutive day, U.S. markets surged several hundred points higher off the opening bell, but unlike Tuesday, markets were able to hold, and even increase gains through Wednesday’s closing bell. Still, Wednesday was the third day in a row that Rule 48 was invoked by the New York Stock Exchange.
One catalyst for the markets today was New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley’s assertion that a Fed rate hike now looks “less compelling”.
Investors were also relieved that the Shanghai market, although lower by 1.3%, was looking more stable than it had in recent days.
Also generating optimism among traders was that the durable goods orders for July was up 2.2%, down from 3.4% last month, but surprisingly ahead of forecasts for a 0.1% rise.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared over 600 points, or 3.9%, the S&P 500 Index gained 3.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite tacked on a hefty 4.2%. Sectors were back in the green after several days of solid red, with technology and financials showing the greatest strength.
Many stocks roared today, but Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) and Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) were particularly lofty in their ascensions. Here’s what happened:
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)
Amazon was one of a handful of large companies under the spell of an analyst upgrade on Wednesday. The e-commerce firm was upgraded by Evercore ISI to “buy” from “hold”, while maintaining a $585 price target. That sent AMZN stock up over 7%.
Other companies that benefited from analyst upgrades today were International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG, GOOGL).
One interesting report today was that AMZN is testing a food delivery service in Seattle, WA. The company is currently testing it by delivering food to its employees, but if all goes well Amazon may begin offering the service to the public.
Monsanto Company (MON)
MON stock blistered 8% higher today on heavy volume after announcing it’s dropping its bid to acquire Swiss agribusiness Syngenta AG (ADR) (NYSE:SYT). Instead, the world’s largest seed company has decided to focus on building its core business and buy back shares from its stock.
Monsanto made several unsuccessful bids for SYT, the last of which totaled $47 billion. After the last SYT rejection, however, MON decided to pull the plug on the entire transaction.
SYT stock was a big loser on the news, down 13% today.
Express, Inc. (EXPR)
Express stock was a non-stop gainer today, after reporting second-quarter earnings of 25 cents a share, well ahead of the 8 cents reported a year ago and the Street’s 16 cents consensus.
Revenue of $535.6 million was up 11% year-over-year, and was also far ahead of the analysts’ estimates for $504.8 million.
CEO David Kornberg cited, “Strong fashion supported by brand focused marketing and an elevation of our customer experience,” as the reason for the 7% increase in comparable sales.
EXPR stock shot up roughly 20% on the news.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
