From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The stock market kicked off the new trading week on an upbeat note with small caps leading the advance after showing relative weakness last week. The Russell 2000 surged 2.3%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.0%. Even though the benchmark index posted a slimmer gain than the Russell 2000, it still managed to register a fresh closing record high at 1,896.65. Similarly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.7%) also settled at a new record high.
Small caps faced some heavy selling last week, while indices with a significant concentration of large cap listings were able to withstand the pressure. Today, however, the areas that struggled last week displayed relative strength, while the Dow and S&P 500 posted more modest gains.
Eight of ten sectors finished in the green with a clear bias towards cyclical groups as consumer discretionary (+1.3%), financials (+1.0%), industrials (+1.5%), materials (+1.3%), and technology (+1.5%) all posted gains of 1.0% or more, while the energy sector (+0.6%) was the only laggard among cyclical sectors.
The largest S&P 500 sector-technology-finished in the lead thanks to a boost from high-growth names like Facebook (FB 59.83, +2.59), LinkedIn (LNKD 152.28, +3.59), and Yelp (YELP 56.60, +2.38); however, it is worth pointing out that other areas of the sector also had a strong showing. Top sector members Apple (AAPL 592.83, +7.29) and Microsoft (MSFT 39.97, +0.43) both gained near 1.1%, while the broad strength among chipmakers sent the PHLX Semiconductor Index higher by 1.8%.
Elsewhere, the discretionary sector also received a measure of support from momentum names, but retailers and homebuilders were not far behind. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 84.88, +1.62) and iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 23.70, +0.49) posted gains close to 2.0% apiece.
With nearly all cyclical sectors finishing ahead of the broader market, the only soft spots were found on the countercyclical side. The health care sector (+1.0%) ended ahead of the broader market, while consumer staples (+0.1%), telecom services (-0.2%), and utilities (-1.0%) lagged.
Treasuries retreated throughout the session, ending just above their lows. The benchmark 10-yr yield rose two basis points to 2.65%.
Participation was well below average as less than 630 million shares changed hands at the NYSE.
Also of note, Ukraine's regions of Donetsk and Lugansk have declared independence after Sunday referendums showed overwhelming support for breaking away from Ukraine. Following yesterday's vote, the council of Donetsk has petitioned for accession to the Russian Federation.
Economic data was limited to the Treasury budget, which posted a surplus of $106.90 billion in April 2014, down from a surplus of $112.90 billion in April 2013. The Treasury data are not seasonally adjusted and the April surplus cannot be compared with the results from March. The Briefing.com consensus expected a budget surplus of $114.00 billion. The Congressional Budget Office released their monthly budget preview last week and predicted a surplus of $114.00 billion. The market is well aware of the CBO's forecast and generally does not react to the actual budget release.
Tomorrow, the Retail Sales report for April (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%) and April Import/Export Prices will be released at 8:30 ET, while the Business Inventories report for March (Briefing.com consensus +0.4%) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.
S&P 500 +2.6% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.7% YTD
Nasdaq Composite -0.8% YTD
Russell 2000 -2.5% YTD
DJ30 +112.13 NASDAQ +71.99 SP500 +18.17 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2205/1.73 bln/561 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2429/625.9 mln/630 3:30 pm : Precious metals and crude oil traded higher today, gaining support from renewed tension in Ukraine. The EU has placed sanctions on two Crimean companies and 13 Russian individuals following independence referendums held over the weekend in Ukraine's Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Neither Kiev, nor the international community has recognized the votes as legitimate.
June gold advanced to a session high of $1304.50 per ounce in early morning action but retreated back below the $1300 per ounce level as the session progressed. It eventually settled with a 0.6% gain at $1295.90 per ounce.
July silver traded as high a $19.67 per ounce in early morning action. It then consolidated near the $19.60 per ounce level and settled with a 2.3% gain at $19.55 per ounce.
Crude oil rose for the first time in three sessions, advancing as high as $100.97 per barrel in morning action. It eventually settled with a 0.6% gain at $100.60 per barrel.
June natural gas, on the other hand, fell deeper into negative territory after pulling back from its session high of $4.50 per MMBtu set moments after pit trade opened. Unable to find buying support, it settled at its session low of $4.43 per MMBtu, or 2.2% lower.
4:05PM Rackspace beats by $0.06, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 revs midpoint just above estimates (RAX) 27.54 +1.26 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.18 per share, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.12; revenues rose 16.2% year/year to $421 mln vs the $419.41 mln consensus.
Net revenue for the first quarter of 2014 was positively impacted by currency exchange rates when compared to the previous quarter by $2.4 million and positively impacted when compared to the first quarter of 2013 by $6.6 million.
Total server count increased to 106,229, up from 103,886 servers at the end of the previous quarter. Adjusted EBITDA(1) for the quarter was $140 million, a 5.8% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2013.
Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 33.2% compared to 32.4% in the previous quarter.
Co issues in-line guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of $434-440 mln vs. $435.24 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
12:59PM Notable movers of interest (SCANX) : The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).
Large Cap Gainers
TTM (40.76 +6.04%): Strength in Indian stocks following strong exit poll results for the Bharatiya Janata Party
ALU (4.06 +5.45%): In newspaper interview co's CEO said company is focused on its cost saving and repositioning plan, not on a potential deal with Nokia (NOK)
MNST (70.02 +4.52%): Added to European Focus List at JP Morgan
Large Cap Losers
CXO (130.65 -2.85%): Announced public offering of 6 mln shares of common stock
NTAP (33.65 -1.58%): Downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James
RL (146.69 -1.42%): NY Post reporting that Executive Vice Chairman Roger Farah may retire; downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse, target lowered to $165 from $185
Mid Cap Gainers
PF (34.41 +13.00%): To be acquired by Hillshire Brands (HSH) for $18 per share in cash and 0.50 shares of Hillshire common stock, for implied price of $36.02 per share
YY (57.63 +9.04%): Strength in Chinese internet stocks: WUBA, QIHU, VIPS also higher
PAY (34.72 +8.09%): Seeing reports that Apple (AAPL) will adopt VeriFone's point of sale technology at its retail stores
Mid Cap Losers
CLB (154.08 -18.52%): Sees Q2 EPS of $1.32-1.35 vs $1.51 estimate, revs of $265-270 mln vs $284.83 mln estimate; sees FY15 EPS of $5.80-6.00 vs $7.10 estimate, revs of $1.1 bln vs $1.28 bln estimate; target lowered to $160 from $170 at Cowen
HSH (34.71 -6.06%): Lower after announcing acquisition of Pinnacle Foods (PF) in cash and stock deal
APO (25.22 -3.70%): Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman
12:06PM Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (151) outpacing new lows (41) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAN, ABG, AIRI, ALK, ALL, ALLY, AMKR, ANCI, AP, APH, ATSG, BAH, BAM, BBW, BGCP, BLL, BPO, CBB, CBSO, CCK, CDW, CENX, CHC, CHK, CHSP, CLDT, CNC, CNMD, COP, CP, CPE, CR, CSL, CUZ, CVS, CXDC, CXP, CYT, DLX, DMLP, DPS, DYN, EA, ECOL, EMES, ENR, EQR, ESRT, ESS, ETE, EW, FGP, FINL, FL, FNHC, GD, GGP, GIS, GLP, GMK, GSAT, HAYN, HBI, HDB, HNT, HOLX, HRS, HSP, HST, HUM, IBN, IDXX, IMS, INGR, ISIL, ITW, K, KRC, LDL, LUV, LYB, MANT, MAR, MC, MCD, MITL, MMM, MO, MOG.A, MOH, MSI, MSL, MTOR, MU, MUSA, MWV, NDSN, NGG, NLS, NNBR, NVS, OPB, ORM, PBA, PEP, PF, PGI, PHX, POM, PPC, PQ, QTS, R, RAI, RDNT, RDS.B, RFMD, RHI, RLJ, SAH, SBGL, SFNC, SGU, SIAL, SLG, SMP, SNDK, STE, SWKS, SXI, SYA, SYPR, TAP, TMK, TPC, TQNT, TRN, TRV, TSYS, TTM, TWIN, UDR, UHAL, UN, VNO, WLP, WMB, WNRL, WWD, YONG, ZLC
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AETI, AMBT, AMZG, ARES, ARQL, AXR, BAXS, BOTA, BSDM, BTX, CBMX, CGG, CHCI, CHGG, CHOP, DARA, DCTH, DNDN, EGT, FEYE, FRSH, GWRE, HCAP, HCT, LIME, MBII, NEON, ONTX, PBPB, POWR, QRM, RNDY, RSO, SC, SCOK, SPEX, TGE, USMD, VHI, VRNS, ZU
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: DIA, EWK, FAN, IYK, IYT, OEF, PIN, SDY, USCI, XLB, XLI, XLP
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: SMN, VXX, VXZ
Mellanox Technologies (MLNX) announced that its ConnectX-3 10/40Gb RDMA over Converged Ethernet and FDR 56Gb/s InfiniBand Network Interface Cards power DataON Storage Cluster-in-a-Box appliances.
Riverbed Technology (RVBD) will demonstrate application acceleration across Microsoft (MSFT) business environments delivered by the Riverbed Application Performance Platform.
Sanmina (SANM) and Primus Power announced a manufacturing agreement focused on the growing energy storage market
Silicon Image (SIMG) announced that its reference design partnership with MediaTek has resulted in five new design wins for MHL-enabled smartphone models from various China and international brands.
OmniVision Technologies (OVTI), a leading developer of advanced digital imaging solutions, today announced the automotive industry's first backside illumination image sensor and a new powerful companion processing chip
AI
Market Data 
Markets 
