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For Jan. 29, 2016, here's the top stock market news and stocks to watch based on today's market moves...
How Did the Stock Market Do Today?
Dow Jones: 16,466.30; +396.66; +2.47%
S&P 500: 1,940.24; +46.88; +2.48%
Nasdaq: 4,613.95; +107.28; +2.38%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average today (Friday) gained more than 396 points following a surprise decision by the Bank of Japan to adopt a negative-interest-rate policy. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) - Wall Street's fear gauge - slipped 9.4%.
On the economic front, the Chicago PMI reached 55.6 this month. That figure beat economist expectations of 45.0 and December's reading of 42.9. Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department's first estimate on Q4 GDP registered below economist expectations. The world's largest economy grew by 0.7% during the period. That's a sharp decline from the 2% growth in the third quarter.
Top Stock Market News Today
- Stock Market Today: All 10 major S&P sectors were on the rise with industrial and financial stocks offering the strongest boost on the day. Crude oil prices were on the rise after Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak announced that Saudi Arabia has proposed a 5% cut in production around the world. Given the critical role oil plays in the social budgets of oil-exporting nations like Russia and Saudi Arabia, nations are eager to find a bottom in crude prices, which finished their first three-day win streak of 2016. WTI crude oil - priced in New York - gained more than 1.2% to hit $33.62 per barrel. Meanwhile, Brent crude - priced in London - gained more than 2.5% to hit $34.74 per barrel. Shares of Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) added 0.6% despite news the firm reported its first quarterly loss in more than 13 years. Meanwhile, shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) added 0.8%. Here's a preview of XOM stock ahead of Tuesday's earnings.
- On Tap Next Week: On Monday, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer will give a speech on economic policy. Keep an eye out for a report on Personal Income and Outlays and the ISM Manufacturing Index. Companies set to report quarterly earnings include Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL), Hain Celestial Group Inc. (Nasdaq: HAIN), Mattel Inc. (Nasdaq: MAT), com Inc. (Nasdaq: SOHU), Atwood Oceanics Inc. (NYSE: ATW), and Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET).
 Stocks to Watch: AMZN, MSFT, XRX, AAPL, ABBV
- Stocks to Watch No. 1, AMZN:Â Shares of Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) fell 7.6% after the company reported a weak fourth-quarter earnings report. The firm cited a big miss on operating costs and said growth in its cloud services business has cooled. Even though the company's stock fell as much as 15% during Friday's trading session, there's reason to be bullish. Here's why AMZN stock is going to climb in 2016.
- Stocks to Watch No. 2, MSFT: Shares of Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) gained more than 5.8% after the software giant announced stronger than expected quarterly profits. The gain was its strongest one-day return in roughly three months.
- Stocks to Watch No. 3, XRX:Â Xerox Corp. (NYSE:Â XRX) said today it will split into two companies - hardware operations and its services business. The announcement will provide activist investor Carl Icahn three board seats on one of these companies. Icahn owns a 7.1% stake in the printer and copier giant. However, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns said Icahn had nothing to do with the company's decision to split into two firms.
- Stocks to Watch No. 4, AAPL: Shares of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) were up 3.5% despite news the company has recalled 12 years of power adapters from its devices sold overseas.
- Stocks to Watch No. 5, AABV: Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) slumped 2.3% on news that sales for its arthritis drug Humira has cooled down. The biotech giant beat consensus earnings expectations and even reported that Humira sales growth had grown by 16%. However, that figure is smaller than the 20% growth in the third quarter.
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What Investors Must Know This Week
- Where We'll Find Our Biggest Profits This Year
- What a Chinese Stock Market Crash Means for Investors
- Your "Buy List" to Profit from Volatility in 2016
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About the Author
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.
Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.