By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 rose to a historic high on Wednesday as stocks advanced 1 percent in a broad rally, with technology shares among the strongest of the day.
For the second day in a row, cyclical shares advanced as investors bought into the sector, which has lagged other sectors recently. As these groups are closely tied to the pace of economic growth, many investors viewed the advance as a sign that the rally has staying power.
The S&P 500 broke past its previous all-time intraday high of 1,576.09, which was set on October 11, 2007, rising as high as 1,587.80. The Dow hit yet another intraday milestone, rising as high as 14,817.06.
"The path of least resistance for the market remains higher, and despite some mixed economic data, investors are concluding that stocks remain a better place to be than risk-free assets," said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Chicago-based Northern Trust Global Investments, which has about $760 billion in assets under management.
Gains were broad, with all but two of the S&P's 10 primary sectors up more than 1 percent. About three-fourths of stocks traded on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were higher on the day.
Tech was the day's strongest group, with the S&P technology sector <.splrct> up 1.8 percent. The group was lifted by strong results at Adtran Inc , which jumped 12.6 percent to $22.19 and boosted peer companies. JDS Uniphase Corp
Also boosting the sector was Facebook Inc
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 138.49 points, or 0.94 percent, at 14,811.95. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 18.53 points, or 1.18 percent, at 1,587.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 56.74 points, or 1.75 percent, at 3,294.60.
With the gains, the S&P is now up 11.3 percent on the year while the Dow is up 13 percent.
The Federal Reserve unexpectedly released the minutes from its most recent policy-setting meeting five hours early. The minutes showed a few policymakers expected to taper the pace of asset purchases by mid-year and end them later this year, while several others expected to slow the pace a bit later and halt the quantitative easing program by year-end.
Accommodative monetary policy from the Fed has been credited with helping to boost equity prices, and uncertainty surrounding the minutes briefly hit indexes in the premarket session, though they subsequently recovered.
"The only way quantitative easing will be tapered off is if the labor market shows noticeable improvement, and the most recent data doesn't show that," said McDonald, referring to the March payroll report, which was sharply under expectations.
"QE will only be taken away when we're in a self-sustaining recovery. We're not there yet, which points to the Fed continuing to stimulate the economy."
Among the 5 percent of S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, almost three-quarters have topped expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.
But quarterly profits are expected to grow just 1.5 percent from a year ago, down from a January estimate of 4.3 percent. The lowered expectations could make it easier for companies to beat analysts' estimates and propel the market further.
Family Dollar Stores
Hospital operator Health Management Associates Inc
(Editing by Nick Zieminski)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-point-higher-start-081151044--finance.html
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Haydn Shaughnessy, a speaker, author, and Forbes contributor who who writes excellent articles about enterprise innovation, released his annual list on Wednesday. Using Peek Analytics data and other criteria, he assembled a list of fantastic women social media experts with whom I?m proud to be associated. I never would have been included on the list if it weren?t for you ? thank you for reading and sharing my content! I hope I?ve helped you better understand social media marketing and how to use it effectively.
If you’re into 3D printable stuff, or into remote control cars, then the OpenRC Project is for you. A gentleman in Sweden named Daniel Nor?e is sharing his progress on a 3D-printed Truggy, as well as sharing the recipe with the OpenRC Project group that he created. A truggy is an off-road vehicle, in case you weren’t sure. The cost of 3D printers are dropping both for at-home use and enterprise, so it’s a very real possibility that consumers all over the world could soon have these devices in their living rooms. Crazier things have happened. We’ve seen 3D printed iPhone docks, violins, pottery and even a robotic hand for a child. If you can print out your very own customized remote control car with one, count me in. While not all of the parts are printable, such as the wheels, for really die-hard remote control car fans, those are parts that they probably have sitting around in the garage already. Here’s a video that Nor?e uploaded today that showssome of the schematics behind the parts, and the actual 3D printing process using one of those fancy MakerBot Replicators: The project has come a long way in the past few months, as here’s a video of an earlier model breaking down: I want one. While this isn’t the only 3D-printed remote control car out there, the advantage here is that you can follow the progress of the project on Google+ and join the discussion. If you’re ready to print one out, go here.
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