Investors greeted 2012 with a roaring rally — every major sector of the market rose except for utilities, which was hit with a downgrade by analysts at Wells Fargo. The Dow was recently up 240 points, and the S&P 500 was up 25 points, or 2%. Oil prices were up almost 4%.
The market rose strongly from the opening bell, but got an extra boost when the Institute for Supply Management released its December survey at 10 a.m. The main manufacturing index rose to 53.9 from 52.7, and the production index rose to 59.9 from 56.6.
In addition, construction spending rose 1.2% in November, which was a bigger jump than economists had expected.
“Despite developments in the Eurozone, manufacturing activity in the U.S. remains firmly on an upswing with particular strength in December shown in new orders, production, and employment,” wrote John Ryding and Conrad DeQuadros of RDQ Economics. “One very encouraging signal is the strength of new orders relative to the overall ISM index (companies continue to shed inventories according to this survey, which has the effect of holding down the overall activity index), which we view as a positive short-run signal for manufacturing growth.� Export orders also posted a second consecutive monthly increase.� The prices paid index rose in December but remained below 50 for the third straight month.”
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