From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : The stock market ended a roller-coaster Thursday on a modestly lower note as the major averages battled back from steep opening losses. The S&P 500 finished lower by 0.3% after stumbling 1.1% at the start of the session. The Nasdaq Composite (-0.5%) finished the day slightly behind both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.3%). Global markets tilted to the downside overnight as a weaker-than-expected Trade Balance Report for September out of China startled investors. The report featured a 10.0% year-over-year decline in exports (expected: -3.3%) and a 1.9% year-over-year decline in imports (expected: +0.7%). The negative economic data resuscitated concerns regarding the health of the global economy.
It also led to speculation that China may tacitly embrace a competitive devaluation of the yuan to bolster beleaguered export demand.
Equity indices moved due south through the opening half hour as the heavily-weighted financials (-1.1%), technology (-0.6%), and consumer discretionary (-0.3%) sectors pressured the benchmark index. The S&P 500 briefly violated technical support levels at 2128/2130, 2127, and 2120/2119 before bottoming just below 2115.
The broader market staged a reversal shortly thereafter as just about every area bounced back from initial selling efforts. The higher-yielding sectors -- utilities (+1.3%), real estate (+0.5%), telecom services (UNCH), and consumer staples (UNCH)-- led the rebound effort, enjoying a break from rising bond yields.
Bond prices increased today (and yields went down) after reports indicated that the ECB may discuss modifications to its asset purchase program at next week's meeting with an aim to find a way to keep purchasing EUR 80 billion per month of bonds should the ECB elect to extend its asset purchase program beyond March 2017. Rates have been on the rise recently on concerns about central banks reaching policy limits with their asset purchase plans.
Treasuries finished higher across the board with yields pulling back throughout the complex. The yield on the 10-yr note slipped three basis points to 1.74%.
Equities finished off their best level of the day as the S&P 500 ran into resistance near its 100-day simple moving average (2140.29) in the final hour.
The financial sector ended off its low, but still finished at the bottom of the sector leaderboard. The economically-sensitive sector underperformed as headwinds from China's negative trade data and a flattening yield curve weighed.
Banking names displayed relative weakness as the S&P Bank ETF (KBE 33.22, -0.75) fell 2.2%. The industry group was under pressure ahead of tomorrow's quarterly reports from JPMorgan Chase (JPM 67.74, -0.39), Citigroup (C 48.47, -0.23), PNC (PNC 87.94, -1.89), and Wells Fargo (WFC 44.75, -0.57).
Wells Fargo was also a story stock today after the company confirmed that Chairman and CEO John Stumpf will retire from the Company and the Board of Directors, effective immediately. That decision follows on the heels of a ruinous scandal for the bank that included the fraudulent opening of two million bank and credit card accounts to meet aggressive sales goals.
The high-beta chipmakers underperformed in the technology space, evidenced by the 1.2% decline in the PHLX Semiconductor Index. The group continues to see selling interest after Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) opted to permanently suspended the production and sale of its Galaxy Note 7 device. Samsung supplier Integrated Device (IDTI 19.73, -0.50) has plunged 13.3% this week.
The energy sector (-0.7%) finished off its low amid an uptick in crude oil. WTI crude settled higher by 0.5% ($50.40/bbl; +$0.25) despite some mixed inventory data. The Department of Energy reported that crude oil inventories rose by 4.9 million barrels (consensus: +0.65 million) while gasoline stockpiles declined by 1.90 million barrels (consensus: -1.49 million).
Biotechnology outperformed the broader health care sector (+0.1%), as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 271.11, +0.98) rose 0.4%. The ETF narrowed its weekly loss to 4.6%. In the ETF, Mylan (MYL 37.88, +0.81) displayed relative strength, rising 2.2%.
Today's trading volume fell came in below the recent average of 930 million as 879 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Today's economic data included weekly initial claims and the Import/Export Price report for September:
Initial claims for the week ending October 8 were unchanged at 246,000 (Briefing.com consensus 255,000) from last week's downardly revised reading.
Continuing claims for the week ending October 1 declined to 2.046 million from 2.062 million.
Aided by a 1.1% increase in import fuel prices, U.S. import prices rose 0.1% in September following a 0.2% decline in August.
Export prices, meanwhile, increased 0.3% after a 0.6% decline in August, helped by a 0.4% rise in nonagricultural prices.
Tomorrow's economic data will include the 8:30 a.m. ET release of the PPI Report for September (Briefing.com consensus +0.2%) and the Retail Sales Report for September (Briefing.com consensus +0.6%). Separately, Business Inventories for August (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%) and the initial reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for October (Briefing.com consensus 92.4) will both cross the wires at 10:00 ET.
Russell 2000: +7.2% YTD
S&P 500: +4.3% YTD
Nasdaq Composite: +4.1% YTD
Dow Jones: +3.9% YTD
DJ30 -45.26 NASDAQ -25.69 SP500 -6.63 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 811/1.586 bln/2160 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 985/854.1 mln/1996 3:30 pm :
The dollar index was -0.4% around the 97.55 level after hitting 7-month highs for the second day in a row earlier
Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, were +0.7% around the 86.28 level
Crude oil recovered initial morning losses to close near its highest level since mid-June following EIA data, which showed larger-than-expected draws in both gasoline & distillates
November crude oil futures rose $0.25 (+0.5%) to $50.40/barrel
Baker Hughes rig count data will be released tomorrow at 1 pm ET
The next official OPEC meeting will take place in Vienna, Austria on November 30.
EIA highlights:
Crude oil inventories had a build of + 4.9 mln (consensus called for a build of about +0.65 mln barrels)
Gasoline inventories had a draw of -1.9 mln (consensus called for a draw of about -1.49 barrels)
Distillate inventories had a draw of -3.7 mln
Natural gas erased the previous 2 sessions of losses following EIA data which showed a smaller-than-expected build compared to Consensus
November natural gas closed $0.13 higher (+4.1%) at $3.34/MMBtu
EIA highlights:
Natural gas inventory showed a build of +79 bcf vs expectations for inventory to be a build of approximately +87 bcf.
Working gas in storage was 3,759 Bcf as of Friday, Oct 7, 2016, according to EIA estimates.
Stocks were 56 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 192 Bcf above the five-year avg of 3,567 Bcf.
At 3,759 Bcf, total working gas is above the five-year historical range.
In precious metals, gold extended yesterday's gains as the dollar index took a tumble after briefly hitting 7-month highs this morning
December gold ended today's session up $3.80 (+0.3%) to $1257.30/oz
December silver closed today's session $0.05 lower (-0.3%) at $17.45/oz
Base metal copper saw a notable decline after weak Chinese trade data, ended near session lows
December copper closed $0.06 lower (-2.8%) at $2.12/lb
Trading ended Thursday with losses, albeit well off lows of the session. The Nasdaq Composite ended lower by 25.69 points (-0.49%) to 5213.33. The S&P 500 shed 6.63 points (-0.31%) to 2132.55, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost only 45.26 points (-0.25%) to 18098.94 after being down at one point today by more than 184 points.
Global markets tilted to the downside overnight as a weaker-than-expected Trade Balance Report for September out of China startled investors. The report featured a 10.0% year-over-year decline in exports and a 1.9% year-over-year decline in imports. The negative economic data resuscitated concerns regarding the health of the global economy.
It also led to speculation that China may tacitly embrace a competitive devaluation of the yuan to bolster beleaguered export demand.
Equity indices moved due south through the opening half hour as the heavily-weighted financials, technology, and consumer discretionary sectors pressured the benchmark index. The S&P 500 briefly violated technical support levels at 2128/2130, 2127, and 2120/2119 before bottoming just below 2115.
Today in market data, the initial claims reading for the week ending October 8 was unchanged at 246,000 from last week's downwardly revised reading. Also, aided by a 1.1% increase in import fuel prices, U.S. import prices rose 0.1% in September following a 0.2% decline in August. Lastly, export prices increased 0.3% after a 0.6% decline in August, helped by a 0.4% rise in non-agricultural prices.
Technology (XLK 47.19, -0.30 -0.63%) ended the session closer to the bottom of the list as far as sector performance goes. Component Xerox (XRX 9.55 -0.25 -2.55%) closed with some decent losses following a Wall Street Journal report that a shareholder sued the company in an attempt to block the pending split of the company. Other sectors as measured by the S&P closed XLU +1.24%, XLRE +0.48%, XLV +0.04%, XLP +0.02%, XLI -0.04%, XLY -0.37%, IYZ -0.41%, XLB -0.52%, XLE -0.55%, XLF -0.97%, XLFS -1.14% with Utilities posting the best performance and Financials lagging.
In the S&P 500 Information Technology (792.39, -4.92 -0.62%) sector, trading ended well off daily lows but still firmly in the red. Component Western Digital (WDC 55.28, -1.15 -2.04%) reported more than 10 million helium-filled hard disk drives have been shipped since the inception of the product, but shares succumbed to the selling pressure today. Other names in the space which were weaker today included QRVO -4.17%, AMAT -2.72%, SYMC -2.65%, TDC -2.30%, CRM -2.22%, SWKS -1.79%, TSS -1.78%, YHOO -1.75%, NVDA -1.63%.
Other notable news items among sector components:
CSRA (CSRA 25.93, -0.01 -0.04%) was awarded a $116 million task order to streamline, maintain and upgrade the IT systems of seven offices and bureaus operating under the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP). The task order was administered through the NIH NITAAC CIO-SP3 indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract vehicle. The period of performance for the task order is five years.
Alliance Data (ADS 206.84, -1.43 -0.69%) announced its Columbus, Ohio-based card services business has signed a long-term renewal agreement to provide private label credit card services for RH, Restoration
Hardware (RH 31.15, -0.57 -1.80%).
According to the Wall Street Journal, Xerox (XRX) shareholder Darwin Deason has sued the company in an attempt to block the pending split of the business.
Western Digital (WDC) has shipped more than 10 million helium-filled hard disk drives (HDDs) since the company first introduced the HelioSeal platform four years ago.
Shareholder Rimini Street issued statement on Oracle (ORCL 38.03, -0.02 -0.05%) v. Rimini Street. The firm plans to pursue an appeal of aspects of the judgment.
MercadoLibre (MELI 168.46, -14.75 -8.05%) commenced a 5.5 million share follow-on underwritten public offering of common stock by selling stockholders eBay (EBAY 31.51, +0.01 +0.03%) and subsidiary eBay International Treasury Center.
Intuit (INTU 106.80, -0.73 -0.68%) and American Express (AXP 60.41, -0.28 -0.46%) announced a partnership that will give qualified QuickBooks Online small business customers who are also American Express OPEN Business Card Members access to short-term, low-cost financing from American Express.
Pure Storage (PSTG 13.17, -0.45 -3.30%) expanding its FlashStack Converged Infrastructure Solution with Cisco (CSCO 30.17, -0.17 -0.56%).
Elsewhere in the tech space:
GoPro (GPRO 13.84, -0.46 -3.22%) responded to Piper Jaffray's commentary from this morning, stating it expects Hero 5 to be sold on Amazon (AMZN 829.28, -4.81 -0.58%) 'soon.'
Samsung (SSNLF 1425.00, +75.00 +5.56%) expanded its recall of its Galaxy Note7 device to include original and replacement devices. The company offered a refund and exchange program.
SunEdison (SUNEQ 0.07, -0.00 -9.62%) received a notice that the SEC is conducting a non-public, fact-finding investigation.
NXP Semi (NXPI 101.84, -0.90 -0.88%) announced that the EC has approved the company's Standard Products divestiture. NXPI continues to expect to close the transaction in 1Q17.
Descartes (DSGX 20.81, +0.42 +2.06%) acquired US-based provider of cloud-based B2B supply chain integration solutions, Appterra, for up-front consideration of $5.8 million plus potential performance-based consideration.
Perficient (PRFT 18.96, -0.22 -1.15%) acquired Bluetube for an undisclosed amount. PRFT expects the deal to be accretive to adjusted EPS immediately.
Amazon (AMZN) will create more than 120,000 seasonal positions across its U.S. network for the holiday season.
Analyst actions:
SYNA was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Mizuho,
TLND was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman,
GRUB, AMTD and GIMO were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill,
CSC was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup,
MTSC was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Sidoti;
HDP was downgraded to Sell from Buy at Goldman,
ETFC was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill,
ERIC was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Natixis Bleichroeder,
NTDOY was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie,
TSM was downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC;
ACN was initiated with a Buy at Berenberg,
WIN was initiated with a Market Perform at Cowen,
BLKB was initiated with a Market Outperform at JMP Securities,
VEEV was initiated with a Market Perform at JMP Securities,
SYMC was initiated with an Outperform at FBN Securities,
MARK was initiated with a Buy at Roth Capital
