What the Market Wants: April Showers Bring... More Showers

It could be a couple of weeks until we know the true effect of the latest US debt debate in the markets, but there are still no clear signs that a year-end rally has been written off, writes MoneyShow.com senior editor Tom Aspray. Stocks had a pretty rough week. Fitch's warning about the risks that US lenders could face if the Euro debt contagion spreads shocked the markets before the close on Wednesday.

(NEW YORK) — Materials and energy companies led the stock market higher Tuesday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to its second all-time high in a week. The Dow closed at 14,673.46, a gain of 59.98 points, or 0.4 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index also rose 0.4 percent, closing less than two points below its own all-time high set April 2. The prices of metals like copper, gold and silver have rebounded this week after slumping for the first three months of the year on waning demand. Oil is also rising following a sharp decline last week.

(NEW YORK) — Materials and energy companies led the stock market higher Tuesday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to its second all-time high in a week. The Dow closed at 14,673.46, a gain of 59.98 points, or 0.4 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index also rose 0.4 percent, closing less than two points below its own all-time high set April 2. The prices of metals like copper, gold and silver have rebounded this week after slumping for the first three months of the year on waning demand. Oil is also rising following a sharp decline last week.

The S&P 500 Index closed at 1553 on Friday, April 5, the level the current rally first reached a month ago. The stock market’s stalling momentum and increasing volatility, combined with other signs evident in the market’s recent behavior, suggest investors might be looking for new inspiration.

This relentless bull market inched closer to its all-time high despite a horrible reading on consumer confidence. First the scoreboard: Dow: 14,553, +105.5 pts, +0.7 percentS&P 500: 1,563, +11.0 pts, +0.7 percentNASDAQ: 3,250, +15.4 pts, +0.4 percent And now the top stories:

We are back to that phase in market euphoria where no news is good news, good news is better, and bad news is best. While there was little news over the weekend, and overnight, what news there was uniformly negative: northern China drowning in smog, the Apple fad bubble bursting, European Industrial production printing below expectations (-0.3%, exp.-0.2%, down from revised -1.0%), and ever louder rumors that the debt ceiling debate may metastasize into an actual government shutdown for at least a few days, which means the first technical default in US history.

US stocks plummeted Wednesday, with Dow blue chip index losing 2.2 percent, after data showed fresh weakness in the jobs and manufacturing sectors.After a four-session winning streak, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 279.12 points (2.22 percent) to 12,290.67 in closing trade.The broader S&P 500 index fell 30.66 points (2.28 percent) to 1,314.54, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 66.11 points (2.33 percent) to 2,769.16.

Brian Dolan submits:The Week Ahead: May 2-7, 2010 Event risk to dominate markets next week Risk sentiment may falter further GBP outlook depends on new government tackling the deficit Greek woes will persist well past the weekend Key data and events to watch next week Event risk to dominate markets next week The month of May looks se