Early Bounce On Options Expiration Day

The market is getting a bounce in early trading after some positive earnings reports.

Oracle (ORCL) beat consensus estimates and also raised guidance. It stock gapped higher on the open, and is helping the tech sector.

Nike (NKE) also beat estimates, and raised guidance for future orders. That stock is higher also, but the overall retail index is lower by a bit.

And Texas Instruments (TXN) said it will buyback an additional $5b in stock, and raised its dividend 25%. That stock also gapped higher this morning, and is helping lift the semi index.

Asian markets were mixed overnight, while the Yen is falling this morning (a positive). Oil is steady, hovering near $81.88 after hitting more record levels yesterday. And bond yields are steady with the 10-year yield at 4.65%.

Today is options expiration day, which I think has exerted some upward pressure on the market this week. Sometimes the market experiences a bit of post-expiration hangover early in the week following, but I think any pullbacks from here will be brief and shallow.