Liquidity Continues Flowing Upstream

The rise doesn't mean much for the broad market unless it weathers a rebound in the oil price, says Phil Roth, chief technical analyst at Miller Tabak. "Right now it is just reflex and some aggressive traders," he says. Overall, "the market is swinging on traders and hedge funds and proprietary trading desks," Roth says.

The S&P 500 swung modestly between red and green Tuesday before closing up 0.1% to 1431.90. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.2% to close at 2497.78, largely due to concerns about weak earnings and guidance from Symantec(SYMC Quote), and a double-barreled analyst downgrade of Cisco (CSCO Quote). Symantec shares fell 13.5% while Cisco dipped 3%.

DuPont(DD Quote) and IBM(IBM Quote) powered the Dow as their shares hit two-year and five-year highs, respectively.