China, Syria Boost Stocks; Dow Jones Industrial Average Reshuffled; World Oil Supplies Adequate, per OPEC

China, Syria Boost Stocks (Bloomberg)

Thanks to good data on China’s improving economy and fears about the Syria situation subsiding, stocks finished another session in the black, giving the S&P 500 its longest winning streak since July. “The news from Syria is positive and we had decent economic data out of China,” Gary Flam, a portfolio manager at Bel Air Investment Advisors LLC in Los Angeles, said. “Investors came into September cautiously positioned, but one by one their concerns are being removed or lessened.”

Dow Jones Industrial Average Reshuffled (Bloomberg)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Visa Inc. (V) and Nike Inc. (NIKE) will be added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average as of Sept. 20. Removed will be Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Alcoa Inc. (AA). This change increases the prominence of financial stocks. “The Dow is going to look and act very differently going forward,” Dan Greenhaus, a strategist at BTIG LLC.

World Oil Supplies Adequate, per OPEC (Reuters)

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) issued a monthly report claiming that, despite difficulties in supply from Libya and potentially Syria, the global inventories of oil are adequate for current needs. “OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] inventories stand at a comfortable level of 58.5 days,” the report said. “This figure is above the historical norm and provides confirmation that the market at present remains well supplied.”