MarketView for April 10

Summary

Once again the major equity indexes were up sharply with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 indexes ending at historic highs as cyclical shares led the way higher for a second straight day. The S&P 500 finally joined the new all-time intraday high club, surging past a record set on October 11, 2007. The index has struggled to breach the level of 1,576.09 for the past several weeks, but broke above it on Wednesday to rise as high as 1,589.07. The Dow also hit another intraday milestone, rising as high as 14,826.66.

Gains were broad, with all but two of the S&P 500's 10 primary sectors up more than 1 percent.

With the day's gains, major indexes are up about 10 percent for the year, but many investors viewed the strength in cyclical shares, those shares closely tied to the pace of economic growth - as a sign that the rally still has staying power. The Dow Jones Transportation Average, which is viewed as a leading indicator for the broader market, rose 1.8 percent.

Tech was the day's strongest group, with the S&P technology sector index up 1.8 percent. The group was lifted by strong results at Adtran, up 14 percent to $22.46, along with JDS Uniphase up 4.9 percent to $13.99, and Juniper Networks up 4.7 percent to $18.84. The sector also received a push from Facebook up 3.7 percent to close at $27.57.

The day marked the best session for both the Dow and the S&P 500 since February 27, and the best for the Nasdaq since January 2. The Nasdaq climbed to a session high of 3,299.15, its highest since November 2000. The CBOE Volatility index, a measure of investor anxiety, fell 3.7 percent.

The Federal Reserve unexpectedly released the minutes from its most recent policy-setting meeting five hours early. The minutes showed a few policymakers expected to taper the pace of asset purchases by mid-year and end them later this year, while several others expected to slow the pace a bit later and halt the quantitative easing program by year-end.

Accommodative monetary policy from the Fed has been credited with helping to boost equity prices, and uncertainty surrounding the minutes briefly hit indexes in the premarket session, though they subsequently recovered.

Among the 5 percent of S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, almost three-quarters have topped expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data. However, quarterly earnings are expected to grow just 1.5 percent from a year ago, down from a January estimate of 4.3 percent. The lowered expectations could make it easier for companies to beat analysts' estimates and propel the market further.

Family Dollar Stores reported weaker-than-expected earnings, but rebounded off earlier declines to rise 1.1 percent to $60.44.

Hospital operator Health Management Associates cut its outlook for 2013 earnings and revenue, citing weak patient-admission figures in the first quarter of the year. The company’s shares fell 16.4 percent to $10.53.