From Briefing.com: 4:48 pm Rambus renewed its DPA countermeasures license agreement with Thales e-Security; Specific terms of the agreement are confidential (RMBS) : Under this new five-year agreement, the Thales line of hardware security modules (HSMs) will be protected against side-channel attacks in a variety of systems, including high-performance data center appliances.
4:05 pm : The stock market followed its Monday downtick with a Tuesday surge that lifted the key indices to new record highs. The S&P 500 gained 0.7% while the Nasdaq (+1.0%) outperformed ahead of tomorrow's FOMC policy statement, which will be released at 14:00 ET and is expected to call for a 25-basis point rate hike.
With the market believing that a rate hike will be announced tomorrow for all the right economic reasons, equity indices were free to continue their climb to stratospheric heights. However, the Russell 2000 (UNCH) spent the day near its flat line, suggesting the small cap rally may be running out of steam. The Russell 2000 narrowed its post-election gain to 14.9% versus a 6.2% gain in the S&P 500.
All eleven sectors began the trading day in the green with most maintaining that posture into the close while materials (-0.2%) and industrials (-0.1%) recorded slim losses.
The energy sector (+1.3%) ended in the lead while crude oil added 0.4% to settle at $52.98/bbl. The energy component received another measure of support on top of the weekend non-OPEC production cut agreement, as the International Energy Agency raised its oil demand forecast for 2017.
Energy spent the day jockeying for position with the technology sector (+1.2%). The top-weighted tech space spiked at the start thanks to gains among some of its largest components like Apple (AAPL 115.19, +1.89), Microsoft (MSFT 62.98, +0.81), and Facebook (FB 120.31, +2.54). Chipmakers also took part in the rally, sending the PHLX Semiconductor Index higher by 1.1%.
The market saw some afternoon backtracking, but daylong strength in other influential sectors like health care (+0.7%) and consumer discretionary (+0.8%) kept the S&P 500 in the top half of today's trading range. The health care sector received some support from biotech names, evidenced by a 0.6% gain in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 269.05, +1.52). Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN 110.01, -5.07), however, fell 4.4% on top of yesterday's 12.9% dive.
Elsewhere, the industrial sector (-0.1%) underperformed throughout the day while the Dow Jones Transportation Average (+0.3%) was limited to a slight uptick, which masked a 4.2% jump in the shares of JetBlue Airways (JBLU 22.53, +0.91) after the carrier issued upbeat guidance.
Treasuries saw gains in overnight action, but the 10-yr note returned to its flat line by the close. The benchmark yield settled at 2.47% while the 2-yr yield rose two basis points to 1.17%. The long bond ended higher, pressuring its yield two basis points to 3.14%.
Today's participation was above average as more than one billion shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Investors received just one economic report today. Import prices excluding oil decreased 0.1% in November after declining 0.1% last month while export prices excluding agriculture also declined 0.1% after increasing 0.2% in October.
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while November Retail Sales (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) and November PPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%) will cross the wires at 8:30 ET. November Industrial Production (Briefing.com consensus -0.1%) and Capacity Utilization (Briefing.com consensus 75.1%) will be reported at 9:15 ET while October Business Inventories (Briefing.com consensus -0.1%) will be released at 10:00 ET.
Russell 2000 +20.9% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +14.3% YTD
S&P 500 +11.1% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +9.1% YTD
DJ30 +114.78 NASDAQ +51.29 SP500 +14.76 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1922/1.90 bln/1297 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1761/1.07 bln/1220
3:30 pm :
Crude oil futures closed pit trading higher for the fourth consecutive session following the release of the IEA's monthly oil market report; API on tap
Jan 2017 crude oil futures rose $0.23 (+0.4%) to $52.98/barrel
API data will be released today after the bell.
Weekly EIA petroleum data will be released tomorrow at 10:30 am ET.
Weekly Baker Hughes rig count data will be released Friday at 1 pm ET.
IEA oil report highlights:
Global oil demand growth of 1.4 mb/d is foreseen for 2016, 120 kb/d above IEA's previous forecast. Robust 3Q16 US demand numbers & methodological changes for China were the main factors. Growth in 2017 is now seen at 1.3 mb/d.
Global oil supplies in Nov edged up to a record high 98.2 mb/d, as a drop in non-OPEC output was offset by higher OPEC production.
OECD commercial inventories fell in Oct for the third month in a row.
Refinery crude intake in 1Q17 is forecast to grow by only a modest 310 kb/d y/y.
Natural gas extended yesterday's notable 6% drop ahead of Thursday's inventory data
Jan 2017 natural gas closed $0.04 lower (-1.1%) at $3.47/MMBtu
Weekly EIA natural gas data will be released Thursday at 10:30 am ET.
In precious metals, gold & silver gave back nearly all of yesterday's gains, gold ended near Monday's 10-month low
Feb 2017 gold ended today's session down $6.60 (-0.6%) to $1159.20/oz
Mar 2017 silver closed today's session $0.21 lower (-1.2%) at $16.98/oz
The dollar index traded nearly flat, around the 101.08 level
Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, were -0.3% around the 87.92 level
Base metal copper extended yesterday's decline
Mar 2017 copper closed $0.02 lower (-0.8%) at $2.60/lb
After a split affair yesterday, the broader market finished higher across the board ahead of tomorrow's FOMC policy statement, which will be released at 14:00 ET and is expected to call for a 25-basis point rate hike. Leading the charge, the Nasdaq Composite surged 51.29 points (+0.95%) to 5463.83. The S&P 500 was up 14.76 points (+0.65%) to 2271.72 when the bell rang, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added an impressive 114.78 points (+0.58%) to 19911.21.
With the market believing that a rate hike will be announced tomorrow for all the right economic reasons, equity indices were free to continue their climb to stratospheric heights. However, the Russell 2000 (UNCH) spent the day near its flat line, suggesting the small cap rally may be running out of steam. The Russell 2000 narrowed its post-election gain to 14.9% versus a 6.2% gain in the S&P 500.
Investors received just one economic report today. Import prices excluding oil decreased 0.1% in November after declining 0.1% last month while export prices excluding agriculture also declined 0.1% after increasing 0.2% in October.
After a lackluster affair yesterday, the Technology (XLK 49.11, +0.61 +1.26%) sector ended as the best performing SPDR. Component Seagate Tech (STX 40.84, +1.67 +4.26%) was the best performing name after the company was the subject of a DigiTimes article which suggested the company and SK Hynix may form a joint venture to develop SSDs. Other sectors as measured by the S&P closed Tuesday XLE +1.13%, XLU +1.03%, IYZ +0.99%, XLY +0.90%, XLV +0.81%, XLP +0.46%, XLRE +0.26%, XLF +0.26%, XLI -0.14%, XLB -0.16%.
In the S&P 500 Information Technology (820.98, +9.98 +1.23%) space, trading was strong and only at the end of the session took a few ticks lower. Component Intel (INTC ) was particularly strong after a premarket initiation by Loop Capital with a Buy recommendation. Other names in the space which fared particularly well today included CA +2.86%, RHT +2.73%, WDC +2.43%, MCHP +2.34%, INTC +2.31%, FB +2.16%, JNPR +2.14%, TXN +2.05%, CTXS +1.78%, NVDA +1.76%, CRM +1.75%, IBM +1.69%, AAPL +1.67%.
Other news items among tech components:
Alphabet (GOOG 796.10, +6.83 +0.87%) acquired Cronologics. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to The Verge, Alphabet's (GOOG) Google will spin off its self-driving car project into a separate business named Waymo.
According to Digitimes, Seagate Tech (STX) and SK Hynix plan SSD joint venture.
Model N (MODN 8.40, -0.75 -8.20%) to acquire provider of life sciences revenue management software Revitas. The deal is expected to close in January 2017.
Web.com (WEB 18.20, +1.00 +5.81%) to acquire Argentina-based Donweb.com; terms not disclosed-expected to close by the end of Q1.
Monolithic Power (MPWR 83.04, +2.96 +3.70%) filed a lawsuit with the US District Court asserting that
Intersil (ISIL 22.28, +0.02 +0.09%) 'has unlawfully misappropriated MPS's confidential information and then used that information to fabricate a web of falsehoods.'
Symantec (SYMC 24.91, +0.21 +0.85%) filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Zscaler in the U.S. Federal District Court.
Texas Instruments (TXN 73.20, +1.47 +2.05%) approved amendments to the By-Laws of the Registrant primarily to implement proxy access.
Imation (IMN 0.96, -0.05 -4.73%) amended its Stock Purchase Agreement to remove stockholder approval conditions.
Synaptics (SYNA 57.29, +1.86 +3.36%) announced a partnership with OXi Technology.
Wi-LAN (WILN 1.57, +0.05 +3.46%) acquired a portfolio of patents from GLOBALFOUNDRIES. Financial terms of the agreement are confidential.
In reaction to quarterly results:
VeriFone (PAY 17.85, +1.41 +8.58%) reported better than expected Q4 EPS and revenues of $0.30 and $468 million, respectively. For Q1, the company sees worse than expected EPS and revenues of $0.20 and about $450 million, respectively. For FY17, PAY guided EPS worse than expected at $1.35-1.39 and revenues in-line at $1.90-1.92 billion.
Analyst actions:
MDRX was downgraded to Underweight at Morgan Stanley,
LIOX was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley & Co.,
LFUS was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Longbow,
INOV was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo,
MODN was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Craig Hallum,
HIMX was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho;
INTC, ON and NVDA were initiated with a Buy at Loop Capital,
TXN and MU were initiated with a Hold at Loop Capital,
YELP was initiated with a Buy at Aegis Capital,
LVLT and CTL were initiated with a Hold at SunTrust,
ZAYO, GTT and CCOI were initiated with a Buy at SunTrust
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