MarketWrap for 12/18/09-Financials and Technology lead the way today.....

Stocks rose today, trimming a weekly loss for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, after better than estimated profits at Oracle Corp. and Research In Motion Ltd. boosted technology companies across the board.  The S&P 500, which is up 22 percent in 2009 after its worst year since the Great Depression, added 0.6 percent to 1,102.39. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index increased 20.63 points to 10,328.89. The NASDAQ climbed 1.1 percent to 2,203.36.  For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent, while the Dow  lost 1.4 percent and NASDAQ was up 1% from the week-ago close.   Both tech stocks and financial stocks had been beaten down during the previous session, but rebounded to respective gains of 1.6% and 1.4% this session

Consumer shares continued their weakness.  Consumer staples companies in the S&P 500 fell for a fourth straight day, losing 1.6 percent for the steepest loss among 10 groups.  Philip Morris International lost 1.3 percent to $48.66.  PepsiCo, the biggest snack maker, slipped 0.9 percent to $59.48.

For a fifth straight week the S&P 500 was unable to top the 1,120 level that marks the midpoint of its 57 percent plunge from a record in October 2007 to a 12-year low in March 2009.