Top Performing Industries For February 8 (HAS, LEAP, CVS, PMC, BCH, SPF, PHA)
Stocks have been trading unpredictably over the past four weeks as investors are on the lookout for signs of stability in the global economic recovery. Over the past couple of weeks, concerns surrounding the unmanageable level of debt for Greece, Spain and Portugal and China’s decision to take steps to limit economic growth have taken a toll on the stock markets across the world. President Obama’s proposal to restrict trading by banks has also dealt a blow to the market.
After touching their lows last Friday, stocks have recovered slightly and the market's major indexes are trading within a tight range. At 12:59 pm, the Dow fell 2.02, or 0.02%, to 10,010.19 after slipping as much as 78 points after the opening bell. The index had breached the psychological barrier of 10,000 for the first time since November on Thursday. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.11, or 0.20%, to 1,068.30, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 7.52, or 0.35%.
The industries driving the market today are:
Toys & Games: The top gainer of the day, this industry had added 5.34% by 12:37 p.m. ET. The highest gainer within the industry was Hasbro Inc (NYSE: HAS), which had jumped 12.73% on stronger-than-expected quarterly profits and an optimistic outlook for 2010. Another stock that was a bright spot in the industry was Leapfrog Enterprises (NASDAQ: LEAP), which gained 2.82%.
Drug Stores: This industry had climbed 4.16% by 12:37 p.m. ET. CVS Caremark Corp (NYSE: CVS) and Pharmerica Corp (NYSE: PMC) were the highlights in the industry. While CVS added 6.28% on an 11% jump in quarterly profits, PMC had swung to profits in its latest quarter.
Foreign Regional Banks: This industry had moved up 4.12% by 1:18 p.m. ET, with Banco de Chile (NYSE: BCH) climbing 3.82% to gain the top spot.
Residential Construction: This industry has risen by 4.07% and has the top gainer in the form of Standard Pacific LP (NYSE: SPF). SPF gained 6.87% by 1:22 pm to trade at $3.89. SPF is riding the tide ahead of the results from Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHA).
Read more from Benzinga's Markets.
