Equity ETFs mostly advanced today with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a five-year high after data released showed continued improvement in housing and companies including Pfizer and Valero Energy reported earnings that beat estimates.
The indexes picked up pace and rallied as the S&P/Case-Shiller index of US property values rose 5.5 percent in November after rising a downwardly revised 4.2 percent in the preceding month to post the biggest year-on-year gain since 2006.
On the downside, the Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence declined to 58.6, the least since 58.6 November 2011 and well short of the 64 forecast by Bloomberg.
Tuesday also marked the start of US Fed’s first monetary policy meeting of the year. After the conclusion of the two-day meeting on Wednesday afternoon, investors will look for clues in the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement for when the bond buying program may end.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbed 72 points with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc leading the blue-chip gains. The drug-maker popped 3.2 percent after fourth-quarter earnings beat estimates while the firm’s full-year profit forecasts topped expectations.
The S&P 500 Index (SPX) rose 8 points with energy fronting the gains and consumer cyclicals the sole laggard among its 10 business groups.
Bucking the upward trend, the NASDAQ Composite index (COMP) shed less than one point, weighed down by a 9.4 percent slump in Seagate Technology.
Treasury prices fell, pushing yields higher for a fourth day amid concerns the Federal Reserve will provide guidance as to when the central bank will slow down its easing moves.
European stocks meanwhile rallied to a 23-month high, boosted by oil firms as oil prices topped $97 a barrel for the first time since mid-September and upbeat German confidence data.
In the ETF space, precious metal-linked funds were on the rise Tuesday. The State Street SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD) picked up 0.44 percent after gold futures rose 0.5 percent while the iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) jumped 1.57 percent.
Energy-related funds were also on the rise for the day as oil prices topped $97 a barrel on Middle East worries. The United States Oil Fund (USO) added one percent while the US Oil and Gas Exploration & Production Index Fund (IEO) jumped 2.65 percent.
Our Trend Tracking Indexes (TTIs) reversed from yesterday’s pullback and picked up a little steam to end at +3.08% (Domestic TTI) and +11.35% (International TTI).
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