Goldman Sachs upgrade help stocks witness their best day of July till date

US stocks witnessed their best day of July till date on Monday, 13 July, 2009. All ten sectors finished in the green led by the financial sectors. The sector got a good boost today after esteemed analyst Meredith Whitney upgraded Goldman Sachs and indicated that bank stocks have strong short-term potential.

Stocks made the start on a mixed mode. Though Dow kicked off the week in the green, Nasdaq and S&P 500 were left behind lingering in the red. But after an hour of trading, Nasdaq and S&P 500 managed to shed their losses and join the Dow in the green. Stocks finished at session highs in what was their best single-session percentage advance in six weeks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 185 points at 8,331.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index, ended higher by 37.98 point at 1,793.21. S&P 500 ended higher by 21.9 points at 901.

Concerns about the recovery of the economy from emerging markets overnight held stocks to restrict their gains in the earlier part of the session.

Due to leadership from the financial sector, the broader stock market was able to overcome an some selling pressure and march higher for the remainder of the session. Stocks finished at session highs in what was their best single-session percentage advance in six weeks.

Among all the ten sectors that registered gains today, financials logged in maximum gains while telecom registered least gains.

Crude prices once again ended below the $60 mark on Monday, 13 July, 2009. Prices fell due to the ongoing demand concerns as a new report from the International Energy Agency last Friday once again ignited the issue in the already weak global economy. On Monday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for August delivery closed at $59.69/barrel (lower by $0.20 or 0.4%). Earlier, it touched a low of $58.3 during intra day trading.

In the currency market on Monday, the dollar fell against the euro, with the European currency trading up 0.3%. Indian ADRs ended in a mixed mode today. The banking stocks logged in gains. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank registered gains of 2.2% and 4.8% respectively. Dr Reddys and Wipro Technologies were main laggards shedding 2.2% and 2.6% respectively.

For tomorrow, earning reports will once again gain dominance. Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson are two prominent names expected. Among economic reports, June PPI and Retail Sales are due at 8:30ET, followed by May Business Inventories at 10:00ET.