Market Watch 10/12/2009

Today is Monday, Columbus Day Holiday.

 

Investors waiting for earnings reports to flow in traded cautiously Monday, giving up early gains and leaving the market narrowly mixed. The Dow Jones industrials reached a new 2009 trading high, edging closer to 10,000.

 

A weaker dollar and a spike in oil prices above $73 drove energy and materials prices higher, but weakness in technology and industrial shares held the market back.

Investors looked ahead to the flurry of earnings due this week from key companies including Intel Corp., Johnson & Johnson, IBM Corp. and General Electric Co. Top U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. will issue reports as well.

The Dow closed up 20.86, or 0.2 percent, at 9,885.80. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.70, or 0.4 percent, to 1,076.19. Both indexes had their highest close in a year.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.14, or 0.01 percent, to 2,139.14.

The dollar mostly fell against other major currencies, helping to drive commodity prices higher. A weak dollar makes commodities more attractive to foreign investors. Gold rose $8.90 to $1,057.50 an ounce, while oil prices rose $1.50 to settle at $73.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.