Reply #55: U.S. stocks end higher, fueled by year-end buying [View All]

http://biz.yahoo.com/cbsm-top/041215/5bd811a50ae88af6996203d50ceafbe5_1.html

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- U.S. stocks ended higher Wednesday as merger-related optimism sparked by Sprint's acquisition of Nextel and robust results from Lehman Bros. fueled year-end buying.
Session gains came amid a spike in oil prices and a fresh slide for the dollar.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI - News) ended up 15 points, at 10,691.45, after climbing as high as 10,706.16, its best level intraday since February.

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Volume came in just under 1.7 billion on the Big Board, while around 2.3 billion shares were traded on the Nasdaq.

"Overall, things are still positive and that's why the market isn't falling off," said Edgar Peters, chief investment officer at Pan Agora. "The market is severely undervalued, and as long as the 10-year Treasury stays in this 4 to 4.5 percent range we can all be very bullish."

On the spike in oil prices, Peters said it was being driven by short-term speculative buying.

"You have a couple of cold days, and all of sudden oil starts rallying. It's a lot of wishful thinking by a few speculators," added Peters. "I think we'll see oil drop below $40 before we get much further along."

Oil spikes up on supply concerns

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