U.S. Markets Post Modest Gains Despite Sell Off In Commodity Stocks

New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. markets registered small gains on the one-year anniversary of the market bottom. Stocks inched near this year’s highs before a late sell-off in commodity names weighed.

The Dow Jones Industrial average added 12 points or 0.11 percent. 17 Dow stocks advanced against 13 decliners.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) was a Dow leader, up 1.4 percent after announcing its GE Capital unit will become the preferred financer for Navistar International Corporation, a truck and bus manufacturer.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) was a Dow laggard, down 0.5 percent after announcing it plans to cut 2,000 refinery related jobs and put its European refinery up for sale.

The S&P 500 added 2 points or 0.2 percent to close at 1,140. The index reached as high as 1145 on Tuesday, just a half percent shy of its 2010 high before pulling back. The S&P 500 is roughly 70 percent higher since bottoming out exactly one-year ago.

The materials sector was the worst performing group Tuesday, down 0.8 percent, while financials held up best.

The Nasdaq Composite added 8 points or 0.4 percent. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) jumped 1.8 percent, giving tech a boost as the stock continues its recent rally, hitting 52-week high of $225 intraday.

Crude oil finished the session down 0.5 percent to settle at $81.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Wednesday’s market will see the release of January wholesale inventories at 10 a.m., ET followed by the Treasury Budget for February later in the afternoon.

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