The major averages ended the session higher on Wall Street. Ken Meyers has the latest on Wall Street on the Acadiana Business Index.

  • The Dow Jones advanced 163 points to 12,574, the S&P 500 gained 15 points to 1324, and the NASDAQ added 33 points to close at 2843. Composite volume on the NYSE was 3.4 billion shares with advancing issues besting decliners by a margin of 3-1. The NASDAQ was 2-1 positive on issues.
  • Stocks were choppy in early morning trading after Fitch Ratings cut the long-term credit rating of 18 Spanish banks and warned that the country would fall short of their budget targets. Despite this, stocks regained their footing, paring most of yesterday’s losses.
  • All 10 sectors on the S&P ended in the green, led by a rally in material and industrial stocks. Shares of Alcoa added 21 cents to $8.52 and Caterpillar gained $1.86 to $87.05. Financials also showed strength throughout the session with Bank of America advancing 21 cents to $7.49 and Citigroup higher by $1.14 to $27.62. A rebound in crude oil prices helped lift the energy sector. Exxon was up 99 cents to $81.26 and Chevron gained 83 cents to $100.74.
  • On the earnings front, Michael Kors Holdings closed higher by $2.92 to $41.10 after the company topped analysts’ expectations in their quarterly profit tally.
  • In bondland, Treasuries were lower along the curve. The benchmark 10-year note gave up 11/16 to yield 1.67% and the 30-year bond fell over a point to yield 2.77%.

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