What a difference a day makes! Continued improvement at home (weekly jobless claims are the lowest since March 2008) and increased confidence in a Greek debt deal, the market happily resumed its low-volatility climb.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) rebounded from its worst day in 2012 yesterday, down 0.8%, with its best performance in two weeks, up 0.96%. Today's 123-point gain puts the Dow only 96 points shy of crossing 13,000, a level not seen since May 2008, before Lehman collapsed. Not to be left out, the S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC) gained 1.1% and hit a nine-month high with each of the 10 sectors making up the index recording gains.
As good as the Dow's day was, let's take a closer look at three components that fared even better.
Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) set a new 52-week high thanks to a 4.1% increase on the heaviest volume in the Nasdaq. Mr. Softy has drawn increasing interest since upping its dividend to $0.20, and a revamped MSN service could be a catalyst for the company.
Apparently confidence over a Greek deal getting finalized is more important for bank shares than would be a possible downgrade of over 100 eurozone financial institutions by Moody's. Financial Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) climbed 4.0%, topping its "Too Big To Fail" brethren, and American Express (NYSE: AXP) saw its shares increase 2.6% as improved housing starts and fewer jobless claims bolstered the sense that a real recovery is here. A healthy domestic economy – and, more importantly, the return of the American consumer -- will help get these stocks back to their winning ways.
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