Thursday's Market Recap - Stocks Rally On Solid Earnings From Lululemon, And Dollar General.

What is The Premarket Telling Us?

7:00 AM.

Stock futures are flat to mildly mixed ahead of the start of trading. Dow futures down 6 points, Nasdaq futures up 18 points, and the S&P futures up 1.75 point. Asian markets finished mostly higher overnight, and European is trending higher in early trading.

On The Bond Desk:

The US 10 year bond yield sits at 2.33%, down 0.03% or three basis points.

Currency Desk:

Euro dollar at 1.17

UK Pound at 1.33

Crude Oil:

Crude oil futures at $57.73/barrel, down 0.45%

On the Earnings Calendar:

Lululemon reported srtong Q3 Earnings results, beating earnings and revenue expectations.

Dollar General Q3 Earnings results was also strong, also beating earnings and revenue expectations.

What About The Asian And European Markets?

Asian markets closed higher; Japan (Nikkei 225) up 1.45%, Shanghai down 0.66%, Hong Kong (Hang Seng) up 0.25%.

European markets close higher; Germany DAX up 0.36%, France CAC 40 up 0.18%, London FTSE 100 down 0.37%.

Market And Sector Dynamics

Stocks opened mixed to kick off the trading session. The Dow lost 25 points, Nasdaq rose 3 points, and the S&P down 1.78 point.

We learned this morning that General Electric (GE) will layoff 12,000 jobs, in an effort to turn around its power division.

Markets traded in positive territory for the entire session, with the Dow gaining over 100 points, at its high. Investor liked strong earnings results posted by retailers, Lululemon, and Dollar General, as well as the euphoria created by Bitcoin, and its meteoric rise in the last few days. The narrative around Bitcoin has been dominating financial news recently.

Eight of the eleven S&P sectors close the session with gains, led by industrials, technology, consumer cyclicals, financials, and healthcare.

Factors Influencing Today's Market

• Crude oil prices rose moderately today. WTI crude oil price closed at $56.59/barrel, up 1.30%.

• Strong Q3 Earning results from Lululemon, and Dollar General.

• General Electric to cut 12,000 jobs mostly outside the US.

• This week's Initial Jobless Claims fell 2000 to 239,000 claims.

• Bitcoin has become one of the most talked about subject in business news as it continues to surge higher.

Market Close Volume Traded And Advance Decline Ratio

At the end of trading the markets were all higher. The Dow advanced 70.57 points, Nasdaq gained 36.47 points, and the S&P added 7.71 points. Total NYSE volume traded, 3.29 billion shares. Advancing shares outpaced Declining shares almost 2:1.

Data Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN Money, Google Finance, Market Watch, TD Ameritrade, Yahoo Finance.