Market Recap: Dow Retreats After Reaching 4-Year High

February 21, 2012

Markets closed mixed on Wall Street today: Dow +0.12%, S&P +0.07%, Nasdaq -0.11%, Oil +2.37%, Gold +2.03%.

On the commodities front, Oil (NYSE:USO) rose to $106.06 a barrel. Precious metals were also up, with Gold (NYSE:GLD) climbing to $1,760.90 an ounce while Silver (NYSE:SLV) rose 3.43% to settle at $34.43.

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Today’s markets were mixed because:

1) Greece. Today’s initial gains were driven by progress made in Greece after weeks of negotiating ended early Tuesday with a deal that will provide Athens with the 130 billion euros in funding it needs to stave off default. But while the deal sparked a modest rally in the morning, investors had already largely priced in the all-but-certain conclusion.

2) Financials. Though the early rally dissipated in the afternoon, financial stocks stayed positive. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), and Citigroup (NYSE:C) all closed up between 0.6 percent and 2 percent. Of the financial heavyweights, only JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) were in the red, the former dipping just below the break-even point in the last few minutes of trading.

3) Companies. Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares fell 3 percent after Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) announced a new video streaming service for all of its cable subscribers, while Home Depot (NYSE:HD) got a boost after reporting fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ expectations. Macy’s (NYSE:M) also reported better-than-expected earnings and sales that were in line with forecasts, while Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) shares climbed as much as 6 percent on reports that the company plans to buy out Japanese gambling tycoon Kazuo Okada’s 20 percent stake at a big discount.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Emily Knapp at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com