Stock Market: Bullish Day after Economic News – What will happen tomorrow?

The Stock Markets went sharply higher today. Checking Index Futures, this move was already indicated by the opening on 6 p.m. EST yesterday and confirmed with the opening of the European session at 3 a.m. EST.
Then came the economic news with a better than expected reading on national manufacturing activity and all Indexes: DOW, S&P, Nasdaq, Russell, doubled up and got into positive annual territory. Here are the news as they came in:

The ISM said its manufacturing index fell to a reading of 55.5 in July from 56.2 in June, with a reading above 50 indicating continued growth in the sector. Economists had expected the index to show a more notable decrease to a reading of 54.2. When you check out publication and how we followed the earnings reports of major US companies, we saw that coming and by kept our bullish sentiment.

Separately, the Commerce Department said that construction spending edged up 0.1 percent to an annual rate of $836.0 billion in June from the revised May estimate of $834.8 billion. The increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected spending to decrease by 0.8 percent.

This coupled with good earnings gives a positive, or bullish sentiment.

Let us be aware, the battle for the bulls is not won. This week the bulls will get tested by reports of the employment situation, outlay of personal income and consumer spending might challenge the overall bull position and we might see some downs spikes while we keep our overall bullish sentiment.

If you want to see a clear outlay of this week’s economic news, check our link: ‘

http://neverlosstrading.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/stock-market-news-for-the-week-of-august-2-2010/

Earnings News with Focus on International Banking and Healthcare:

HSBC reported a six-month profit of $0.38 per share, well above the $0.21 per share reported for the same period last year. The firm benefited from a decline in loan impairments, as charges fell to $7.52 billion compared to $13.93 billion recorded a year earlier.

French banking giant BNP Paribas reported a 31 percent increase in its second quarter profits on a near 12 percent increase in revenues, as its cost of risk declined about 54 percent from last year.

Humana Inc.'s second-quarter net income grew to $2.00 per share, firmly topping expectations for $1.67 per share. Total revenues for the second quarter increased 9.5 percent to $8.65 billion, while analysts estimated revenues of $8.61 billion for the quarter.