Sam Collins

Bulls or Bears: Who's Really in Charge?

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Following better-than-expected earnings from General Mills (GIS) and strong buying in Europe, the stock market opened higher yesterday, and within an hour the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was ahead by 140 points.

Then, at 10 a.m., the Institute for Supply Management said that its index of manufacturing jumped to 44.8 in June from 42.8 in May and pending home sales increased 0.1%.

But that was the extent of the positive news and the buying for the day. The rest of the session turned into a gradual sag until just before the close when selling picked up and the market closed on a down note.

The financial sector was the worst performer, down 0.5%, and energy stocks struggled, too, against falling oil prices. But pre-holiday volume was very light and, in the absence of an increase in volume, the early gains were either easily wiped out or reduced.

At the close, the Dow was up 57 points to 8,504, the S&P 500 (SPX) gained 4 points to 923, and the Nasdaq (NASD) gained 11 points to 1,846.

The NYSE traded just 877 million shares, with advancers ahead of decliners by 3-to-1. On the Nasdaq, 611 million shares traded, with advancers ahead by 2-to-1.