The markets enjoyed a great start to the week as energy helped give the markets a boost. Oil closed up 2.9% today pulling along the energy names. With limited news out today, that seemed to be the major driving factor. The Dow 30 added 63, the S&P 500 closed higher by 6, and the Nasdaq 100 added 29. Going into tomorrow, the news will be centered around the housing market as the building permits and new housing starts are scheduled to be released.
Dow 30 stock Wal-Mart (WMT ) under performed the broad market today losing 0.80% ahead of its earnings report, which will be released on Thursday morning. Shares still remain near 2016 highs, but have retreated back into the two month range.
In the machinery space, Xylem (XYL ) added 3.86%, breaking out to new highs as the company agreed to acquire Sensus. The deal is valued at $1.7 billion and analysts expect the acquisition to start to benefit Xylem's adjusted earnings by 2017.
Twitter (TWTR ) gets a much needed 6.76% pop today after reports indicated that the company is in talks to have its app supported by Apple's TV device. Shares have consolidated between $14 and $20 for the better part of the year, but today's news takes Twitter out of the long range.
