“Today’s just a continuation of what we’ve been seeing for the past four months,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital. He pointed to four primary drivers for the gains: the improving economic recovery, easing worries over euro-zone debt, the Federal Reserve’s stimulus program, and optimism for U.S. companies’ fourth-quarter earnings reports.
“If we do have a strong Q4 earnings season, it’s going to bode well for equity markets in the near future,” Sarhan said. He noted Deutsche Bank’s upgrade of Alcoa comes a week before the company is set to kick off the earnings season.