U.S. Stocks Rally - Traders Bullish As Central Banks Prep For Aftermath

4:10 PM, Jun 15, 2012 -- U.S. stocks rallied on Friday, boosted by optimism that the European central banks will act in a coordinated effort to stabilize markets if the fall-out from this weekend's Greek elections warrant such action. Also adding to the upside was the sentiment that the U.S. may embark on a third round of quantitative easing.

Traders put aside data released today from the U.S. showing global growth. The empire state manufacturing index, a gauge of activity in the New York region fell dramatically to 2.3 in June, its lowest reading since November. Economists had expected a reading of 13.

The University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters consumer-sentiment index fell to a preliminary June reading of 74.1, its lowest since December. In May, the index came in at 79.3.

Today was quadruple witching day, a four-time a year phenomenon when index futures, options on index futures, single stock futures and stock options reach their final trading day. Quadruple witching days are known to be one of the most volatile and heavily traded sessions of the year.

In company news, Motorola Solutions (MSI) climbed after it announced that it had acquired all the shares of Psion, a manufacturer of mobile computing products, for 88 pence or $1.36 in cash per share, valuing the issued ordinary share capital at GBP 129 million or $200 million.

Commodities ended higher, crude for July delivery gained 6 cents to $83.97 a barrel. The August contract for gold rose $8.50 to settle at $1,627.10 an ounce.

Here's where the markets stood at end-of-day:

Dow Jones Industrial Index up 115.26 (+0.91%) to 12,767.17

S&P 500 up 13.74 (+1.03%) to 1,342.84

Nasdaq Composite Index up 36.47 (+1.29%) to 2,872.80

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Nikkei 225 up 0.01% (+0.43) to 8,569.32

Hang Seng Index up 2.3% (+425.54) to 19,233.94

Shanghai China Composite Index up 0.47% (+10.90) to 2,306.85

FTSE 100 is up 0.22% (+11.76) to 5,478.81

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) ASIA, Reports that multiple firms may be considering a bid for the company

(+) SNDK, Bullish Bank of America Statement

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) EEI, Disappointing Q3 Results

(-) OXBT, Signs agreements with institutional investors to amend previously announced offering

(-) ARQL, Analyst initiation