This seventh trading week of 2012 comes to a close as investors cheered on the news that Congress had sent a bill to the President that would extend the payroll tax cut and slash jobless benefits.
Hi. I'm Kristin Bianco. Welcome to the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for Friday February 17, 2012.
The S&P 500, NASDAQ, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were all higher for the week, reversing the losses from the previous week.
Crude oil futures are rallying this week, trading around $103 per barrel on Friday afternoon.
Gold futures are flat this week, to around $1723 an ounce in afternoon trading.
In notable economic news this week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the CPI increased by 0.2 percent in January, with gasoline increasing 0.9 percent alone.
In corporate news this week, Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) reported second quarter earnings that topped analysts' estimates, but fell year-over-year. The company earned $205 million in the quarter, or 64 cents per share, which was ahead of the 62 cent per share estimates.
Heinz (NYSE:HNZ) reported strong results this morning as well, with earnings topping $284 million and sales climbing to $2.92 billion. In the report, Heinz said that the range for full year guidance had been narrowed to $3.32 to $3.34.
Rackspace Hosting (NYSE:RAX) announced fourth quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates in terms of revenue and earnings. The company earned $25 million, or 18 cents per share, on revenue of just over $283 million.
And Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) announced it is increasing the dividend by 44% and instituting a new $6.5 billion share repurchase plan, with $3 billion to be repurchased this year.
This is the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for Friday February 17th. Please join us on Monday for the 'Week Ahead Market Report."
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