Friday’s bloody ending to May gave way to cautious optimism on Monday as markets rebounded on an up day driven primarily by sector and corporate news.
The Dow Industrial Average forged ahead 0.92% to close at 15254.03 while the S&P 500 moved up 0.59% to end at 1640.42, and the Nasdaq closed with a rush, ending up 0.27% at 3465.37.
Tech stocks enjoyed a nice rise, as Intel (INTC) rose nearly 4%, the highest flyer on the Dow, after being upgraded from “market perform” to “outperform” by FRB. Meanwhile Microsoft (MSFT) rose nearly 2% on rumors it will change its business model towards a “devices and services” focus rather than software. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) also rose nearly 2% on rumors that the company is looking to sell its stake in Indian software company Mphasis for $1 billion.
Pharmaceuticals also helped drive the rally, as Merck (MRK) shares rose more than 3% after announcing a positive study for a skin cancer treatment. The news boosted Dow component Pfizer (PFE, +1.91%) while S&P component Bristol-Meyers (BMY, +3.43%) added to its gains.
The auto industry moved ahead as Ford (F) and General Motors (GM) each gained more than 1% after reporting stronger than expected auto sales for May. Toyota (TM) didn’t share in the good news, dropping a little more than 1% by day’s end, and electric car company Tesla (TSLA) gave some recent gains back, dropping over 5% on the day.
Finally, bidding opened today for a lunch with Warren Buffett, starting at $25,000 on eBay (EBAY). Last year’s (anonymous) winning bidder ponied up $3.5 million for the lunch, with all proceeds going to GLIDE, a charity serving disadvantaged people.
Three Up
- Mannking (MNKD): Up 14.56% (97 cents) to $7.63
- Sodastream (SODA): Up 8.24% ($5.26) to $69.06
- Gamestop (GME): Up 3.74% ($1.24) to $34.53
Three Down
- Infinity Pharmaceuticals (INFI): Down 39.04% ($10.59) to $16.39
- Pandora (P): Down 10.58% ($1.80) to $15.22 (Read more here)
- 3D Systems (DDD): Down 5.32% ($2.58) to $45.94
Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing he was long MSFT.
