The gains weren't huge this week, but with the global economy facing trouble at every turn, investors are no doubt grateful to see the market in the black at all. The situation in Europe remained front and center, keeping investors on their toes throughout the week. Standard & Poor's sounded a concerning note on Monday when it placed the credit ratings of 15 European Union countries on review, threatening a cut of one to two notches. On Friday, though, the market cheered an agreement among EU countries to draft a new treaty that would bring deeper economic integration and potentially help head off a similar debt-fueled crisis in the future.
Thanks to the jump on Friday, the S&P 500 managed a gain of nearly 1% for the week while the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Top 3 Performing Sectors
S&P Sector | Weekly Price Change | Month-to-Date Price Change |
---|---|---|
Financials | 1.7% | 2% |
Information Technology | 1.4% | 1.9% |
Industrials | 1% | 0.7% |
Source: S&P Capital IQ. Weekly price change is Dec. 2-Dec. 9. Monthly price change is Nov. 30-Dec. 9.
Jumping in from outside of the top three sectors, Gannett
Monster Worldwide
Top 3 Performing S&P 500 Companies
Company | Weekly Price Change |
---|---|
Gannett | 12.0% |
Monster Worldwide | 8.6% |
Dean Foods |
7.6% |
Source: S&P Capital IQ. Weekly price change is Dec. 2-Dec. 9.
Also part of the top 10 S&P 500 stocks for the week were Netflix
Meanwhile, Tenet hopped higher after Goldman Sachs said that investors had overreacted to concerns that Medicare may not pay for hospital stays for heart and orthopedic procedures in certain states.
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