MARKET GAINS GROUND BUT ON LIGHT VOLUME IN PRE-THANKSGIVING TRADING
PRETTY TYPICAL ACTION... Two events made today's action pretty typical. One was that the market finished higher. That's pretty typical for Thanksgiving week. The second was that volume was light. That's also typical for the day before and after the holiday. Despite the light volume, breadth figures were positive and there was more upvolume than downvolume. That was especially true on the big board. That better performance was reflected in the NYSE Composite Index which hit a new closing high. More positive economic news today helped the market gain ground even if the gains were relatively small. Bond prices closed lower as long-term rates rose. The dollar lost more ground today. That boosted gold prices $5.60 to $398. Commodities were strong across the board. The CRB Index climbed 2.77 points. Fifteen of seventeen commodities rose. The biggest gainers were cotton, copper, and crude oil. Oil gained 64 cents to close at 30.41. Gold stocks hit new highs today. The energy sector was also strong. Once again, the top performing sector was Basic Materials. Many of those stocks are tied to commodities.
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BASIC MATERIAL LEADERS... Two of today's top performers in the Basic Materials group are shown below. Newmont Mining reached a new six-month high on the back of rising gold prices. The next major uspide target for Newmont is its 1996 high at 60. Phelps Dodge is riding a rally in copper. The next upside target for PD is the low 70s. Today's weakest sectors were healthcare, consumer staples, and discretionary spending.
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING... All of here at StockCharts.com would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. It's been a good year. We have a lot to be thankful for.
