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GOOG, IBM, AAPL, SLX, COH, FOSL

The major US market averages finished Wednesday’s session in the Green despite some early weakness in the S&P 500.

Wednesday’s focus centered on earnings as technology heavyweights Google GOOG 741.50, +38.63 and International Business Machines NYSE:IBM 204.72, +8.64 reported Q-4 results that the market embraced.

Both companies beat the Street’s expectations. Google’s top line of $12.16-B represented about a 50.0% Y-Y growth. IBM’s revenue declined by 0.6% to $29.30-B.

Google and IBM gained of 5.5% and 4.4%, and their strength resulted in a notable divergence in the major averages.

Note, IBM accounts for more than 10.0% of the price-weighted DJIA. This caused the 30-stock average to trade near its session high on the day.

Dow +66.96 at 13779.17, Nasdaq +10.49 at 3153.67, S&P +2.22 at 1494.78

The NAS spent the session in a 10 pt range as positive tech earnings contributed to the relative strength.

Note, Apple NASDAQ:AAPL 514.00, +9.24 gained 1.8% prior to reporting its quarterly earnings after the closing bell. After Hours AAPL declined to 461.30 Down 52.71, -10.25%.

While technology stocks were the clear leaders today, steel producers lagged as the Market Vectors Steel ETF NYSEArca: SLX, 49.33, -0.44 finished lower by 0.9%.

Apparel producers underperformed after Coach NYSE:COH 50.75, -9.93 missed on earnings and revenue. In addition, the retailer said its North American comparable store sales fell short of estimates. The stock fell 16.4% and peer Fossil NASDAQ:FOSL 103.49, -2.46 fell 2.3%.

US Major Market Indexes Technical Analysis
Date Symbol Price Technical Analysis Support Resistance
23 Jan 2013 QQQ 67.59 Bullish (0.39) 66.83 67.71
23 Jan 2013 DIA 137.46 Bullish (0.32) 125.25 NIL
23 Jan 2013 SPY 149.37 Bullish (0.37) 135.70

Crude Oil traded off for the most of the session before selling off into the close. The weakness caused the energy component to slip 1.1% and settled at 95.60.

Today’s economic data focused on housing. The weekly MBA Mortgage Index pointed to a 7.0% increase in new mortgage applications. This follows the prior week’s increase of 15.2%

The November FHFA Housing Price Index rose by 0.6% to follow the prior month’s up-tick of 0.5%.

Thursday’s weekly initial and continuing claims will both be reported at 8:30a EST. In addition, December leading indicators will be released at 10:00s EST.