From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The stock market began the week on a higher note as the Nasdaq Composite (+0.6%), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.3%), and the S&P 500 (+0.3%) each carved out new all-time closing highs. The benchmark index traversed a narrow seven-point trading range as a rally in crude oil buoyed the broader market. Today's trade also featured weakening in the dollar and the outperformance of the heavily-weighted technology (+0.5%), financial (+0.6%), and industrial (+0.6%) sectors.
U.S. equities began the day on a higher note, shrugging off negative economic data at home and from overseas. Japan's second-quarter GDP disappointed with growth coming in flat quarter-over-quarter (expected: 0.2%). However, the response was fairly muted as participants mulled recent fiscal stimulus measures and looked forward to potential action from the Bank of Japan. Central bank policy remained in focus as investors ruminated over a disappointing reading of the U.S. Empire Manufacturing Survey for August (-4.2; Briefing.com consensus 4.0). Investors added the disappointing reading to the recent string of soft data, which might keep policy rate normalization on hold.
The broader market advanced through the afternoon, trading higher alongside crude oil. The energy component benefited from speculation regarding potential price stabilization measures from OPEC and non-OPEC members. Reports indicated that Russia is holding discussions regarding such measures with producers inside and outside of the oil cartel. WTI crude ended its day higher by 2.9% ($45.73/bbl; +$1.27), extending its month-to-date advance to 10.0%.
The S&P 500 (+0.3%) settled off its high after the benchmark index failed to clear technical resistance near the 2191/2193 price level. Despite the minor pullback, seven sectors ended in the green with commodity-sensitive energy (+0.6%) and materials (+1.0%) outperforming. The remaining advancers ended with gains between 0.1% (health care) and 0.6% (industrials). Conversely, defensively-oriented consumer staples (-0.2%), telecom services (-0.3%), and utilities (-1.6%) ended with the only losses.
The Dow Jones Transportation Average (+0.6%) finished ahead of the broader market as airlines outperformed in the index. United Continental (UAL 48.01, +0.91) and American Airlines (AAL 35.87, +0.95) ended higher by 1.9% and 2.7%. Meanwhile, the broader U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS 22.51, +0.27) trimmed its monthly loss to 0.1%. In the broader industrial sector (+0.6%), Dow component Boeing (BA 134.66, +1.59) outperformed, gaining 1.2%.
The economically-sensitive financial sector (+0.6%) displayed relative strength as the group moved higher with rising Treasury yields. Treasuries ended the day near their lows as yields rose through the curve. The yield on the benchmark 10-yr note settled higher by four basis points at 1.56%. In the group, investment brokerages and life insurance names displayed relative strength as Morgan Stanley (MS 29.66, +0.49) finished higher by 1.7%.
In the technology sector (+0.7%), top-weighted Apple (AAPL 109.51, +1.33) outperformed, bolstering the broader sector. The stock has rallied 13.3% since beating bottom-line estimates for the quarter on June 26. Twitter (TWTR 20.86, +1.32) jumped 6.8% on reports indicating that the company is in talks to have its app supported by Apple TV. On the flipside, Salesforce.com (CRM 78.92, -2.71) slipped 3.3% after announcing that it would postpone its earnings call until August 31 (from August 29).
The U.S. Dollar Index (95.60, -0.12) finished off its low as the greenback held losses against the euro and commodity currencies. The single currency gained 0.2% against the buck (1.1186) while the dollar/Canadian dollar pair ended lower by 0.3% (1.2918). Separately, the dollar was unchanged against the safe-haven yen (101.23).
Today's participation was below the recent average as fewer than 723 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Today's economic data included the Empire Manufacturing Survey for August and the NAHB Housing Market Index for August:
The Empire Manufacturing Survey for August registered in at -4.21, which was below the prior month's reading of 0.55. The Briefing.com consensus estimate was pegged at 4.0.
The NAHB Housing Market Index for August came in at 60 from a revised 58 in July (from 59) while the Briefing.com consensus expected the reading to come in at 59.0.
Tomorrow's economic data will include July CPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.0%), July Housing Starts (Briefing.com consensus 1,167k), and July Building Permits (Briefing.com consensus 1,153k), which will each be released at 8:30 ET. The July Industrial Production Report (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) and July Capacity Utilization (Briefing.com consensus 75.7%) will both cross the wires at 9:15 ET.DJ30 +59.58 NASDAQ +29.12 SP500 +6.10 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2042/1.411 bln/908 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1965/722.4 mln/1035
3:30 pm :
Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, were up 1.4% around the 85.24 level
Crude oil rallied for the third consecutive trading session ahead of tomorrow's API data
September crude oil futures rose $1.27 (+2.9%) to $45.73/barrel
The next OPEC meeting is scheduled to take place Sept 26-28 in Algeria
Weekly EIA data will be released Wednesday at 10:30 am ET
API data will be released tomorrow after the bell
Baker Hughes rig count data will be released Friday at 1 pm ET
Natural gas finished pit trading modestly higher, extended Friday's gains
September natural gas closed $0.01 higher (+0.4%) at $2.60/MMBtu
In precious metals, gold & silver reversed slightly to finish just off of session highs
December gold ended today's session up $4.10 (+0.3%) to $1347.60/oz
September silver closed today's session $0.16 higher (+0.8%) at $19.85/oz
Global markets tilted to the upside overnight, shrugging off a weaker-than-expected reading of Japan's GDP growth for the second quarter (0.0% quarter-over-quarter). The response was largely muted as investors considered recent fiscal stimulus measures and eyed potential stimulus from the Bank of Japan. On the home front, a disappointing reading of the U.S. Empire Manufacturing Survey for August (-4.2) also failed to elicit selling interest. Investors likely viewed the weak reading as further evidence that the Fed will remain on hold for the time being.
Equity indices marched higher through the first half of trade, gaining alongside crude oil futures. Oil prices have advanced amid continued speculation regarding price stabilization measures from OPEC and non-OPEC producers. Reports indicated that Russia is discussing potential actions with producers inside and outside of OPEC. At the end of floor trading, September crude oil futures rose $1.27 (+2.9%) to $45.73/barrel.
Market date today included the aforementioned US Empire Manufacturing Survey reading, and the NAHB Housing Market Index for August which came in at 60 from a revised 58 in July (from 59).
Stocks began the week on a higher note. Trading ended with decent gains all around as the Nasdaq Composite led all indices higher, up 29.12 points (+0.56%) to 5262.02; aiding the advance, Nasdaq 100 components ILMN +3.8%, BIDU +3.0%, NXPI +2.9%, AAL +2.7%, JD +2.7% all finished well higher today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 59.58 points (+0.32%) to 18636.05, and the S&P 500 was the most modest gainer today, up only 6.10 points (+0.28%) to 2190.15. At some point on the session, all three major US indices carved out new all-time highs -- ATH: Dow $18668.44, S&P $2193.81, Nasdaq $5271.36.
Among other S&P sectors, Technology (XLK 47.33, +0.22 +0.47%) was relatively strong today, but better gains were had elsewhere in the S&P. Specifically, Semiconductor (SOXX 107.23, +1.44 +1.36%) names dominated positive territory. SOXX components MU +4.09%, SWKS +2.92%, NXPI +2.89%, ON +2.77%, TER +2.59%, MRVL +2.50%, QRVO +2.16%, AVGO +1.78% all capped the session with healthy gains. Other sectors as measured by the S&P closed the day XLB +1.01% XLE +0.80% XLF +0.67% XLI +0.67% XLY +0.20% XLV +0.17% IYZ -0.03% XLP -0.25% XLU -1.53% led to the upside by Materials and Energy, with Utilities lagging.
In the S&P 500 Information Technology (785.86, +3.78 +0.48%) sector, Monday ended near highs. Component Salesforce.com (CRM 78.92, -2.71 -3.32%) was especially weak today following a press release detailing the change of timing for the upcoming Q2 earnings conference call; the timing was changed to Wednesday, August 31, 2016 from Monday August 29, 2016 due to a 'scheduling conflict.' Other names in the space which were higher when the day was done included WDC +3.45%, JNPR +3.01%, EA +2.65%, TEL +2.05%, ADSK +1.86%, LRCX +1.75%, KLAC +1.70%, HPQ +1.68%, ADI +1.63%.
Today in the tech space
According to a Wall Street Journal story, Workday (WDAY 83.65, +0.16 +0.19%) is expected to announce a multi-year deal to use IBM's (IBM 161.88, -0.07 -0.04%) cloud computing services.
E*TRADE (ETFC 25.47, +0.25 +0.99%) commenced an offering of up to $400 mln of fixed-to-floating rate non-cumulative perpetual preferred stock.
Gogo (GOGO 11.69, +0.51 +4.56%) will work with China Telecom Satellite to offer in-flight connectivity service on International flights operating in and out of China starting in October.
Imprivata (IMPR 19.15, +0.01 +0.05%) announced that University of Utah Health Care will implement its PatientSecure.
Vectrus' (VEC 32.11, +0.19 +0.60%) Matthew Klein resigned as Principal Accounting Officer, but will continue to serve as CFO.
SunEdison (SUNEQ 0.50, -0.01 -16.94%) filed to delay its 10-Q.
Maxim Integrated (MXIM 40.99, +0.08 +0.20%) filed a mixed securities shelf offering.
TerraForm Power's (TERP 12.17, +0.25 +2.10%) Operating, LLC announced the extension of consent solicitation to August 19, 2016.
Analyst actions:
CYBR was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman;
PI was initiated at Needham, Pacific Crest, Piper Jaffray and RBC Capital Mkts,
MGT was initiated with a Buy at Ascendiant Capital Markets
