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Stocks Snap Three-Day Losing Streak

Published: Monday, 25 Jan 2010 | 4:34 PM ET

Text Size

By: Cindy Perman
CNBC.com Staff Writer

Stocks advanced Monday, rebounding off of their worst week since last March, as worries about Bernanke's confirmation subsided and investors scooped up bargains. Techs advanced ahead of earnings from Apple and Texas Instruments after the bell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23.88, or 0.2 percent, to close at 10,196.86, clawing back a small portion of the more than 4 percent it lost last week. The S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq added 0.3 percent.

Major U.S. Indexes

.DJIA

.NCOMP

.SPX

This came after the Dow chalked up its worst week since March 2009 amid worries about earnings, Washington's tough talk on banks and China.

A couple of items worrying investors eased up: Doubts about the confirmation of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke subsided and demand was strong for Greece's first bond offering of the year.

And that was reflected in the VIX volatility gauge, which fell more than 7 percent today to just above 25. Though, volume was lighter today than it was last week.

FOR INVESTORS

Easing worry about Bernanke helped boost the dollar against the yen, while the Greek news buoyed the euro. Oill settled over $75 a barrel and gold climbed to $1,095.20 an ounce.

Gasoline prices have fallen more than $1.40 a gallon in the past few weeks to $2.72 a gallon, according to the Lundberg survey.

Last week's rout prompted some speculation on the trading floor that this might be the beginning of a bear market.

"It has that possibility," Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS, said on CNBC this morning, saying Washington's "populist anti-bank" tone may "inadvertantly inhibit liquidity."

But others saw last week's losses as a buying opportunity.

"So last week’s selloff from the high—you have to look at it as a temporary pullback in prices that should be used as an opportunity to put new cash to work at this point,” said Art Nunes, market strategist at IMS Capital.

Stocks briefly pared their gains after a report showed existing-home sales fell 16.7 percent in December, much worse than the 10-percent drop expected, but then shrugged it off.

Techs, telecoms and materials were among the day's best performers, with Intel, Caterpillar and GE leading the Dow. American Express, United Technologies and Kraft were at the bottom of the pack.

Investors are awaiting some key earnings out of the tech sector after the bell: Apple [AAPL Loading... () ] and Texas Instruments [TXN Loading... () ].

Apple is expected to have another solid quarter — the whisper number pegs earnings at $2.14 a share.

Winterizing Your Portfolio - A CNBC Special Report

Investors are also looking to Apple's announcement on Wednesday, which is expected to be about a new tablet computer that could give Amazon's [AMZN Loading... () ] Kindle a run for its money. Amazon shares were down about 2 percent.

Some financial stocks clawed higher, including Bank of America [BAC Loading... () ] and Goldman Sachs [GS Loading... () ] as investors scooped up bargains in the beaten-down sector but investors remained tentative as Washington tightens its grip on the sector.

Wal-Mart [WMT Loading... () ] slipped after the discount retailer said it's cutting 10 percent of jobs at its Sam's Club stores.

Ford shares [F Loading... () ] rose nearly 5 percent following news that the auto maker plans to add 1,200 jobs in Chicago when it begins making its Explorer SUV.

It's more than just Ford: Companies in general are slowly increasing hiring plans for the first half of 2010, according to a new survey from the National Association For Business Economics.

This mornings earnings were a mixed bag: Halliburton [HAL Loading... () ] reported its profit dropped 7 percent amid weaker drilling activity and lower prices for its oil-field services, but expects an improvement in its North American business. Diversified manufacturer Eaton [ETN Loading... () ] reported profit higher than expected.