This morning, the National Association of Realtors announced mixed housing data. While the year-over-year sales numbers increased by 12.8% in December, housing sales actually fell by 1% from November to December. Investors, however, didn't seem to care, as they focused more on individual company earnings.
As for the major indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +0.73%) had the best day, moving higher by 62 points, or 0.46%, and now sits at 13,712. The S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.81%) also had a winning day, as it rose by 6.58 points, or 0.44% ,while the NASDAQ (^IXIC +1.03%) added 8 points, or 0.27%. Of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow, only eight of them ended the day in the red. Three of the big losers this afternoon were Boeing (NYSE: BA); Johnson & Johnson (JNJ +0.64%); and Caterpillar (CAT +3.35%), which turned around and closed the day in the green. To read about why those stocks were down, simply click here. Or to read about three of today's biggest winners -- DuPont (DD +0.00%), Travelers (TRV 0.06%), and Verizon (VZ 0.48%) -- continue reading below.
So why were they higher
DuPont, Travelers, and Verizon all announced quarterly earnings today, which caused the three companies' stocks to move higher today. Investors managed to add 2.15% to Travelers' share price after the company took large losses from Hurricane Sandy just a few months ago. Profits fell by 51% from the same quarter last year due to the storm, but Travelers still beat analysts' expectations of $0.72 per share when it posted $0.78 per share this morning.
DuPont also posted a decline in profits from this time last year, but, like Travelers, it managed to beat estimates, which gave investors a reason to buy shares and drive the stock price higher by 1.77% today. DuPont earned $0.12 per share while analysts expected a mere $0.07 per share.
Lastly, shares of Verizon rose by 0.94% today after it reported a loss due to pension costs, restructuring, and Hurricane Sandy. But the company also activated a record number of new devices during the quarter and reported a 6% increase in revenue, which beat analysts' estimates. Verizon announced a few weeks ago that it had added 2.2 million new devices under its contract-based plans.
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