Rising more than 16 points in the morning session to around 1330, about a 1.2% gain, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index reacted strongly to economic growth figures from China of 9.5%% for the second quarter of 2011 and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments that several new stimulus measures were being considered. Buttressing the robust growth figure was an increase of $150 billion in foreign exchange holdings for China.
Bouncing back along with the S&P was Micron Technology (NYSE:MU), up almost 5%, to over $7. 60. A poor earnings report recently from Micron led the tech sector down. For the year, Micron is down more than 4.7%. It is trading below is 20, 50 and 200 day moving averages. With a relative strength index of 42, Micron is close to the 30 benchmark for when a stock is considered oversold.
Reporting insider buying and also responding strongly to the positive economic news from China was Titanium Metals Corporation (NYSE: TIE), higher by almost 5%, a gain of more than 84 cents to $18.50. Titanium Metals is trading above its 20, 50 and 200 day moving averages but is down for the week due to previous gloomy economic news portending lower demand for titanium products from the weak US jobs report, down grade in Ireland, and concerns about banks in Italy and Portugal.
Rebounding strongly from recent losses was Nabor Industries (NYSE: NBR), over $24.72, a gain of more than $1.05, better than a 4.5% spike north early trading. An oil services firm, Nabor, along with other energy stocks, benefitted from a bullish report on oil released by the International Energy Agency. Nabors is trading below its 20, 50 and 200 day moving averages.
Despite a recent analyst report recommending the stock, Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) was down over 60 cents, more than 1.4%, to under $44.40. Altera is trading beneath its 20 and 50 day moving averages. It is about 10% from its year high.
Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) was down about 1.40% to around $51.50, a loss of over 70 cents despite overall gains in the financial sector. Taking the stock lower on dilution fears was a company announcement that $2 billion in common would be sold to fund its share of the ING Acquisition. Capitol One is trading about 8.4% below its high for the year.
Down also by more than 1.1% was Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CNTS), as profit takers took the business services company down more than 30 cents lower to under $32 in the morning session. Cintas is about 7% from its year high and trading more than 9% higher than its 200 day moving average.
As of this writing, Jonathan Yates did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
