Stocks Surge Higher On Ukraine Ceasefire, Cisco Earnings - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved notably higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday after ending the previous session roughly flat. The gains on the day lifted the Nasdaq to its best closing level in almost fifteen years, while the Dow and the S&P 500 climbed back toward their record highs.

The major averages finished the day at or near their highs for the session. The Dow climbed 110.24 points or 0.6 percent to 17,972.38, the Nasdaq soared 56.64 points or 1.2 percent to 4,857.61 and the S&P 500 shot up 19.95 points or 1 percent to 2,088.48.

The strong performance on Wall Street was partly due to a positive reaction to news of an impending ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.

Marathon peace talks involving the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France resulted in a ceasefire agreement set to go into effect on February 15th.

The deal involves a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called "extremely important."

Buying interest was also generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news from Cisco (CSCO), with the networking giant jumping by 9.4 percent.

After the close of trading on Wednesday, Cisco reported better than expected second quarter results and announced an 11 percent increase in its quarterly dividend.

Meanwhile, traders largely seemed to shrug off some disappointing U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing a bigger than expected drop in retail sales.

The report said retail sales fell by 0.8 percent in January after slumping by 0.9 percent in December. Economists had expected sales to drop by 0.5 percent.

The continued decrease in retail sales came as falling gasoline prices contributed to another steep drop in sales by gas stations.

While sales excluding autos and gasoline still rose by less than expected, the data may have offset recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Sector News

Steel stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 2.7 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in a month.

ArcelorMittal (MT), Allegheny Technologies (ATI) and AK Steel (AKS) turned in some of the steel sector's best performances.

Considerable strength also emerged among banking stocks, as reflected by the 2 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Banks Index. The index also ended the day at one-month closing high.

Networking stocks also saw significant strength on the heels of the upbeat earnings news from Cisco. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the NYSE Arca Networking Index surged up by 2 percent.

Internet, energy, housing and software stocks also saw notable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in yet another mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 1.9 percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 1 percent and the German DAX Index surged up by 1.6 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction throughout the session before closing roughly flat for the second straight day. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 1.986 percent.

Looking Ahead

Reports on consumer sentiment and import and export prices may attract some attention on Friday, although trading activity may be somewhat subdued ahead of the long weekend.

On the earnings front, CBS (CBS), Groupon (GRPN), Kraft Foods (KRFT), and Zynga (ZNGA) are among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.