On another banner day for oil, stocks continued marching toward record highs as the S&P 500 added a third of a percent Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.37% while the Nasdaq Composite finished higher by 0.26%.
Gold and oil futures each gained more than 1% as the dollar fell against the euro. As the markets reduce the odds of a June rate hike from the Federal Reserve, dollar-denominated commodities could gain more ground as the greenback loses momentum.
With stocks continuing their June ascent, Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU), Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (ADR) (NYSE:PBR) and United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) were three of today’s best.
Lululemon Athletica inc. (LULU)
Lululemon, the maker of high-end athletic apparel, rose 4.9% on more than quadruple the average daily volume after the Canadian company said its fiscal first-quarter same-store sales increased although profits fell.
LULU said it earned 30 cents a share in the quarter, in line with analysts’ estimates. Same-store sales rose 6% while LULU posted total revenue of $495.5 million.
LULU forecast fiscal-second-quarter same-store sales of $505 million to $515 million on a mid-single-digit increase in same-store sales. LULU expects to earn 36 cents to 38 cents a share in the second quarter, slightly below the average analyst estimate of 39 cents per share.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (PBR)
Brazil’s state-controlled oil producer surged 11.2% on above-average volume as oil prices continued rising to the highest levels of 2016. PBR also said its May output increased 5% on a month-over-month basis.
Last month, PBR pumped 2.83 million barrels of oil and equivalent natural gas a day, according to Reuters. PBR’s average May oil output was 2.24 million barrels per day.
United States Steel Corporation (X)
Shares of U.S. Steel soared 11.2% on heavy volume following bullish comments from Credit Suisse. A Credit Suisse analyst said investors are not fully understanding changes in the U.S. sheet market.
“We remain very bullish on the U.S. steel industry and our new supply / demand model for the US flat rolled market indicates continued deficits for value add sheet into 3Q-16, supporting prices well above fair value levels,” according to part of a Credit Suisse note posted by Barron’s.
Shares of X are up nearly 122% this year.
At the time of this writing, Todd Shriber did not own any of the aforementioned securities.
