Market Summary

Stocks and commodities surged on Monday, as the greenback fell while the markets got an additional boost from existing home sales data. Futures were strong in the premarket and traders took it from there, sending major averages to fresh 13 month highs. The blue chips recouped all of and then some of their losses over the past 3 sessions, rising 132.79, or 1.3 percent, to 10,450.95. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 14.86, or 1.4 percent, to 1,106.24, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 29.97, or 1.4 percent, to 2,176.01. In small cap trading, the Russell 2000 index advanced 10.13, or 1.7 percent, to 594.81.

Gold prices surged to a new high of $1,174 an ounce, while crude for January delivery rose 9 cents to $77.56 a barrel on the NYMEX. The moves were all aided by a 70 basis point decline in the dollar index.

HPQ Shares Fall Slightly after Earnings

Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ), the world’s largest maker of personal computers reported earnings of $2.4 billion, or 99 cents a share, up from $2.1 billion, or 84 cents a share, a year earlier. Despite a 14% increase in profit, revenue decreased 8.4% to $30.8 billion

Existing Home Sales Surge Ahead of Initial Tax Credit Deadline

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose in October at a faster-than-expected pace to the highest in more than 2-1/2 years.

The National Association of Realtors said sales surged a record 10.1 percent month-over-month to an annual rate of 6.10 million units, the highest since February 2007, from a downwardly revised 5.54 million-unit pace in September.

Analysts had expected October sales to jump to a 5.70 million-unit pace from the previously reported 5.57 million units in September. Compared to October last year, home sales were up by a record 23.5 percent.

We have a lot of data being released in the next two days, what a boost if it was better than the forecast. With such light volume this week, we can see some major moves in equities.