Benchmarks finished in the green after recovering from a steep drop triggered by a “bogus” tweet about an explosion at the White House. Indices began yesterday’s trading session on a positive note propelled higher by robust earnings from major companies but took a nose dive after the false twitter post. Meanwhile, housing stocks rallied after a report revealed that news home sales increased in March. All ten sectors of the S&P 500 industry groups finished in the green with financials leading the pack.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (:DJI) gained 1.1% to close the day at 14719.46. The S&P 500 added 1.0% to finish yesterday’s trading session at 1578.78. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index increased 1.1% to end at 3269.33. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (:VIX) declined 6.3% to settle at 13.48. Consolidated volumes on the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were roughly 6.39 billion shares, slightly higher than this year daily average of 6.38 billion shares. Advancing stocks easily outnumbered the decliners. For the 74% that advanced, 23% declined.
A false Associated Press tweet about two explosions in the White House rattled markets yesterday. Within a few minutes of the tweet, the Dow Jones plunged 143 points but recovered most of its losses very soon. A bogus tweet by hackers showed there has been an explosion at the White House which injured President Barack Obama. AP said that its twitter account had been hacked. Following the fake tweet on President Barack Obama, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that “the President is fine.”
Shares of Coach, Inc. (NYSE:COH) rocketed 9.8% after the company reported its quarterly results. Coach reported better-than-expected results boosted by robust sales in China. The company has also increased its annual dividend. The company’s international sales have moved up 6%. Sales in China surged 40%. Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE:TRV) also reported first-quarter results. The company’s earnings beat the Street’s estimates. Following the results, shares of the company rose 2.1%.
E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD) posted quarterly results on Tuesday. Du Pont earnings came in above analysts’ estimates. The company’s quarterly profits increased more than double boosted by robust sales of agricultural products. Du Pont’s shares jumped 4.1% after the results. Shares of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shot up 24.4% after the company reported its quarterly results. Earnings of the company came in above the Street’s estimates. Strong growth from Netflix’s streaming service was primarily responsible for the jump in earnings.