What really stood out was another new all-time high of just over 1,850 for the S&P 500 Index earlier in the day and a high on the NASDAQ going back to highs not seen since the dot-com and tech bubble seen more than a decade ago.
The unofficial closing bell readings will change from official closing levels, but these were as follows:
- DJIA +108.08 at 16,481.94
- S&P 500 +9.50 at 1,848.38
- NASDAQ +31.87 at 4,214.88
The big bank earnings winner was former DJIA component Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). While JPMorgan and Wells Fargo had mixed earnings on Tuesday, BofA handily beat its earnings estimates when it reported on Wednesday. Shares were up 2.3% at $17.16 in the final minutes, but this marked a new 52-week high and the stock hit a high of $17.42. While BofA is not a DJIA stock any longer, this helped to propel J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) higher and Jamie Dimon can send Brian Moynihan a thank you letter. J.P. Morgan shares were up 3.2% at $59.58 right before the closing bell.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) spent Wednesday getting the gain you might have expected on Tuesday. This was the day after the FCC ruled in its favor over the so-called Net Neutrality. This is still a work in progress and may take months (or longer) just to get a new ruling opinion down the road. Verizon shares were up 2.5% at $48.25 in the final minutes of trading.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) rallied sharply on Wednesday, perhaps on a Bloomberg video showing a larger Windows tablet market for 2014. Another boost is that Microsoft is reportedly spending more than $2 billion to try to bring in Samsung and other phone makers into developing more with its mobile Windows smartphones. Microsoft shares were up 2.75% at $36.76 right before the closing bell.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was another winner, on hopes of larger domestic orders rather than just on hopes of international orders. This was ahead of the dividend payment, and was a day after the company pressed Congress to develop legislation to enhance infrastructure. Caterpillar shares were up 2% at $92.41 right before the closing bell.
Watch out for key earnings yet again on Thursday: Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and American Express lead financial earnings; also on deck are UnitedHealth and Intel. The economic calendar for Thursday has weekly jobless claims, Treasury capital holdings, Consumer Price Index (inflation), and the Philly Fed all on deck.
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