CLOSING BELL

Dow 10548.51  +3.10, Nasdaq 2291.28  +2.88, S&P 1126.42  +0.22 

The stock market spent most of today in negative territory before gaining strength and finishing the day with a small gain.  The gain today came without any real leadership and low volume.

I am not surprised by the recent lack of leadership and low volume since most on Wall Street packed their bags for the year and won’t return until 2010.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, which came in at 60.0 to top expectations and hit its best level since 2006.  Yet stock didn’t really react to the positive news.

Oil prices closed with a +0.5% gain at $79.30 per barrel. The advance by oil came even though weekly oil inventories showed a smaller-than-expected draw of 1.54 million barrels.  I would expect oil to remain volatile as long as the demonstrations continue in Iran, Yemen remains a new terrorist threat and Israel may make a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Tech was this session's best performing sector. It booked a +0.5% gain with help from semiconductor stocks, which advanced +1.5%. Semiconductor stocks are on track for a 70% annual gain this year, which is more than double the near 25% gain that the broader market is headed for.