The markets had yet another positive day today. For the Dow, this marks 9 green days in the last 10. A feat that hasn't happened since March of 2013. The Dow 30 did close nicely in the green adding another 46, while the S&P 500 was also positive by 9. The Nasdaq 100 was the out performer of the day adding 53 thanks in part to Microsoft.
Tomorrow there is plenty of market news due out before the open. We have an ECB press conference, Manufacturing numbers along with Unemployment claims. All have been market movers in the past so traders will be watching closely to tell if its time to take profits or not.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) helped boost the technology sector today as it shot 5.31%. The stock was the leader of the Dow today after reporting that revenue for its commercial Office 365 products and its Azure arm grew a respective 54.0% and 102.0% year-over-year in the second quarter. Investors rushed at the chance to buy the good news and volume was well above average.
Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) did not fare so well today as it lost 1.58%. The company did beat analysts' estimates for the quarter and they even projected a pickup in North American drilling activity during the second half of the year. However, Halliburton also reported that North American revenue fell 15.0% year-over-year during the quarter. Investors took the opportunity to take some profit off a stock that has had a great run in the short term.
Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) was lower by 1.26% today and was the the worst-performing Dow component of the day. This comes after being downgraded to Hold at Stifel. Although it did close down on the day, shares were well off their session lows.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) was back in the news today jumping 4.38% on news that the FDA approved its Relistor medication. Furthermore, the Ophthalmic Drugs Advisory Committee voted to recommend Valeant's Brodalumab treatment.