Markets Rally Late In The Day (SPY, QQQQ, GLD, USO, TLT, UUP)
U.S. equity markets spent most of the day in negative territory but finished strong, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average 38.54 points higher to close at 10,211.07. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: SPY) gained 0.49% to finish at $109.68. Volume was light, as only 197.01 million shares trading versus a daily average of 340.98 million. SPY traded in a range of $108.12 to $109.75 and finished close to its highs.
The PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ: QQQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq 100, gained 0.95% to $45.50 in Friday's trading session. The Nasdaq outpaced both the Dow and S&P by a fairly wide margin.
Gold was in positive territory throughout the day, as COMEX gold futures were up $6.00 to $1,228.20. The SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSE: GLD) gained 0.87% to close at $120.01.
NYMEX Oil futures lost $1.22 to $74.26, pushing crude back below the $75 level. The United States Oil Fund ETF (NYSE: USO) fell 1.55% to $34.23 on Friday in New York Stock Exchange trading.
Treasury prices were higher today. The iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE: TLT) gained 1.27% to $97.41. Interestingly, both Treasuries and equities rose today. The yield on the 10 year bond is now at 3.23%.
The U.S. dollar was slightly stronger today. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (NYSE: UUP), which tracks the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, gained 0.32% to $25.46 The EUR/USD pair is currently trading at $1.2101.
