Market Talk

US stocks rise, as the risk trade comes back after a long weekend in which the G20 reasserts its commitment to a fiscal backstop for the economy, and crude jumps above $71 even as gold hits $1,000.

DJIA rises 56 (0.6%) to 9497, S&P 500 gains 9 (0.9%) to 1025, Nasdaq Comp adds 19 (0.9%) to 2038. Energy, materials, industrials lead the way.

The risk trade’s fingerprints can be seen across asset classes. Dollar gets beaned as euro hits $1.45 and the dollar index slides to a 12-month low, and Treasurys fall after a mediocre three-year auction. Elsewhere, consumer credit contracted a record $21.6B in July. It’ll be hard for the economy to recover if consumers aren’t spending.

Now, gold’s move to $1,000 is a big round number that garners a lot of attention, but it’s hard to say yet what it means. Seems like gold’s been sitting in the $900 range for a long time, with occasional forays into the low-$1,000 range. So before you smack yourself on the forehead and say “why didn’t I listen to G. Gordon Liddy,” wait to see if gold can hold $1,000.

US stocks finish higher, wiping out early weakness, as energy shares jump along with crude futures that topped $72/barrel.

DJIA gains 61 (0.7%) to 9279, S&P 500 rises 7 (0.7%) to 996, and bounced off support at 980 session low; Nasdaq Comp adds 13 (0.7%) to 1969. Considering where the futures were pointing this morning, which was down pretty sharply, the bulls should be very happy with today’s gains.

Not sure what did it, but the risk trade came right back; the euro, crude, stocks all rise, even after the slide in China’s Shanghai index overnight took it into bear-market territory.

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Late surge extends stocks’ winning streak, despite a shaky session in which a number of blue-chip companies report earnings and Bernanke tells Congress the economy’s too weak for the Fed to remove its supports, but when the time comes, it has a plan. (Video recap here.)

DJIA gains 68 (0.8%) to 8916, its seventh consecutive daily gain. S&P 500 rises 3 to 954.58, a fresh year high. Nasdaq Comp rises 7 to 1916, its tenth consecutive gain.

More proof that the risk trade is back on: the Dow’s up 9.4% since last Friday, and crude’s up 8.7% since last Wednesday. Proof it’s coming off: financial and consumer discretionary stocks actually fell today, and healthcare and utilities drove equities gains. And, both the dollar and Treasurys rose as well.

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