What started off as a relatively mixed day in the markets quickly shifted gears on the release of encouraging unemployment data. Unemployment is now at 8.3%, its lowest level since 2009, confirming that the recovery is picking up steam. With that in mind, let's see how the three largest indexes are faring with only a couple hours left in today's session.
| Gain/Loss | Gain/Loss % | Ending Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 142.93 | 1.12% | 12,848.34 |
| Nasdaq | 43.27 | 1.55% | 2,902.95 |
| S&P 500 | 17.18 | 1.33% | 1,342.72 |
All three indexes are putting in impressive gains and look poised to end an eight-month streak of heading south when unemployment is released. As of right now, the Nasdaq has hit an 11-year-high watermark and all but two of the 30 Dow stocks are green. Of those components, the biggest winner is Bank of America
For believers of the January effect, there is now over a 96% chance that the markets will have a strong showing for all of 2012. It will be interesting to see if all of the good data coaxes more liquidity into the market, as trading volumes have been relatively low this year.
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