From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : The stock market ended the Tuesday session on a lower note despite seeing early strength. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 posted respective losses of 0.7% and 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.4%.
Equity indices displayed modest losses at the start, but were quick to regain their flat lines after a pair of economic data points surprised to the upside. Briefly, the New Home Sales report for May came in well ahead of estimates (504K versus Briefing.com consensus 440K), while the Consumer Confidence report (85.2) registered its highest reading since early 2008.
The economic news gave a boost to the consumer discretionary sector (-0.2%) and especially homebuilders. DR Horton (DHI 23.89, +0.29) and Toll Brothers (TOL 36.56, +0.43) both jumped 1.2%, while the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 24.36, +0.21) advanced 0.9%. For its part, the discretionary sector fell into the red during the afternoon when the overall market reversed and surrendered its gain.
Before looking at the afternoon reversal, we'd like to point out that the discretionary space was just one of three influential sectors that slumped into the close.
The largest S&P 500 sector-technology (-0.5%)-saw intraday strength that was fueled by gains among chipmakers after Micron (MU 32.50, +1.24) reported better than expected earnings. The stock settled higher by 4.0%, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index lost 0.7% after being up as much as 0.7%.
Elsewhere, the health care sector (unch) surged out of the gate in reaction to positive cystic fibrosis treatment trial data from Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 93.53, +26.92). VRTX surged 40.4%, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 255.48, +2.57) narrowed its gain to 1.0% after being up more than 2.0% intraday.
The intraday gains among three of the four largest sectors were not enough to prevent the key indices from tumbling into the red. The afternoon turnaround occurred shortly after the Wall Street Journal reported that a Syrian fighter jet struck targets in western Iraq, killing 50 people. The news was followed by broad-based selling activity that saw the energy sector (-2.0%) lead to the downside.
In all likelihood, the noteworthy dive was a function of profit taking, considering the sector trimmed its quarter-to-date gain to 10.6%. For comparison, no other sector shows an increase of more than 4.9% for the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the second-best sector of the second quarter-utilities-ended in the lead, climbing 0.3%.
Treasuries settled on their highs after spending the entire session in positive territory. The benchmark 10-yr yield fell five basis points to 2.58%.
Participation remained light with 635 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data featured the April Case-Shiller 20-city Index, April FHFA Housing Price Index, New Home Sales for May, and the June Consumer Confidence report:
The Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index for April rose 10.8%, while an 11.6% increase had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. This followed the previous month's increase of 12.4%.
The April Housing Price Index from the FHFA was unchanged, which followed an unrevised uptick of 0.7% observed during the prior month.
New home sales increased 18.6% in May to 504,000 from a downwardly revised 425,000 (from 433,000). The Briefing.com consensus expected new home sales to increase to 440,000.
Sales topped 500,000 for the first time since May 2008.
The spike in new home sales coincided with a large decline in mortgage rates. As rates turn higher, it could dent future sales growth.
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index increased to 85.2 in June from a downwardly revised 82.2 (from 83.0). The Briefing.com consensus expected the index to increase to 84.0.
The index climbed to its highest point since the recession began in January 2008.
A surging stock market and general improvements in overall employment conditions were enough to offset higher gasoline/oil prices and drive consumer confidence to a 6-year high.
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET, while Durable Orders for May (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) and the third estimate of Q1 GDP (consensus -1.8%) will cross the wires at 8:30 ET.
S&P 500 +5.5% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +4.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.5% YTD
Russell 2000 +0.8% YTD
DJ30 -119.13 NASDAQ -18.32 SP500 -12.63 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 860/1.84 bln/2005 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1145/635.2 mln/1923 3:30 pm :
Aug gold touched a session low of $1317.20 per ounce in late morning pit trade after retreating from a session high of $1323.70 per ounce. The yellow metal eventually settled with a 0.2% gain at $1321.20 per ounce.
July silver traded in a tight range between $20.93 per ounce and $21.07 per ounce today and closed at $21.05 per ounce, or 0.6% higher.
Aug crude oil extended yesterday's losses despite trading in positive territory in morning action.
The energy component touched a session high of $106.51 per barrel but dipped to a session low of $105.68 per barrel in afternoon floor trade and settled with a 0.2% loss at $106.01 per barrel.
July natural gas trended higher today. It lifted from its session low of $4.47 per MMBtu and rose as high as $4.56 per MMBtu before settling with a 1.8% gain at $4.53 per MMBtu.
12:19 pm 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
VRTX (93.93 +41.01%): Two 24-week Phase 3 studies of lumacaftor in combo with ivacaftor met primary endpoint with statistically significant improvements in lung function (FEV1) in people with Cystic Fibrosis who have two copies of the F508del mutation; tgt raised to $107 from $92 at Maxim Group.MU (32.81 +4.96%): Beat on EPS by $0.09, beat on revs; upgraded to Strong Buy at Needham; tgt raised to $50 from $40; tgt raised to $36 from $24 at JP Morgan.LPL (15.19 +3.72%): Co and Panasonic (PCRFY) in talks over OLED TV panel purchases, according to reports.
Large Cap Losers ICE (190 -4.13%): Downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.COG (34.3 -2.17%): Downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.CP (179.8 -1.89%): Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Buckingham Research.
Mid Cap Gainers NAV (39.36 +4.85%): Co amended existing stockholder rights plan and adopted tax asset protection plan; Carl Icahn filed amended 13D; confirmed Ownership Limit is deemed to have terminated.TLLP (72.33 +4.16%): Reached agreement with Tesoro (TSO) to acquire certain terminalling and pipeline assets for $270 mln.MEOH (64.14 +4.36%): Upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at BMO Capital Mkts; tgt raised to $73 from $68.
Mid Cap Losers EIGI (14.18 -10.71%): Trading lower following news that Google (GOOG) introduced domain name website service.BCEI (59.2 -3.5%): Tgt raised to $72 from $65 at Wunderlich; initiated with a Buy at GMP Securities.
11:55 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (171) outpacing new lows (16) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AA, AAN, AAP, ABG, AEM, AIRT, AKRX, AMAT, AMP, ARDX, AVA, AXAS, AXDX, BBEP, BFAM, BFR, BGCP, BHE, BK, BLL, BNS, BP, CBG, CDNS, CENX, CFN, CHK, CHMI, CNSL, CNW, CO, CORE, CPE, CPK, CVE, CVGI, CVTI, CYT, DAN, DLX, DMLP, DNOW, DOW, DRII, DVN, EDAP, EE, ENTG, ENV, EPD, ESCA, EVER, FDX, FET, FNV, FORM, FTK, GLOG, GLW, GST, HALL, HBI, HCC, HCLP, HF, HHC, HNRG, HUM, IDXX, IEX, IIN, INN, INTC, IPXL, JLL, LGCY, LHO, LM, LNG, LPL, LYB, MARK, MCRL, MINI, MITSY, MJN, MMYT, MPLX, MPWR, MSCC, MSL, MTG, MTN, MTRN, MU, MVG, NLSN, NOV, NSH, NTCT, NWN, OIS, OKE, OMER, PAA, PAGP, PFBI, PJC, POR, PPO, PSX, PTX, PXD, RGLD, RGP, RHI, RPM, RRMS, RY, SAIC, SANM, SCOR, SCS, SE, SEB, SEMG, SLXP, SMLP, SPWR, SRC, ST, STJ, SYRG, TAHO, TAX, TBPH, TD, TEO, TEP, TGP, TGTX, TIME, TOO, TOT, TOWR, TRNS, TRP, TRW, TSO, TWOU, UCBA, UEIC, UFPT, VMI, VRTS, VRTX, VVC, WBB, WCN, WES, WGP, WLK, WR, WSM, XRS, XYL, Y, YPF, YUM, Z, ZPIN
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AVD, AXTI, BTH, CCS, DB, GRVY, HDNG, HERO, NEON, PENX, RSH, SEAC, SODA, USMD, UTEK, VHI
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: EWC, IEO, IHF, IWF, JNK, MDY, QQQ, SMH, UYG, UYM, XLB, XLV
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: SMN
8:31 am Mellanox Tech announces definitive agreement to acquire Integrity Project; financial terms not disclosed (MLNX) : Co announced its intent to acquire privately-held Integrity Project, which includes an accomplished team of software technology veterans.
Based in Ramat-Gan, Israel, Integrity Project was formed out of an elite military technology unit, specializing in the fields of connectivity, low-level development, real-time applications, and security. Mellanox is acquiring Integrity Project for its software expertise, which further enhances Mellanox's commitment to providing superior solutions. The acquisition positions Mellanox to broaden its customer base by adding software solutions designed to enable customers to achieve optimal performance from all interconnect components.
The transaction is currently projected to close in the third quarter of 2014.
Micron (MU) reported third quarter earnings of $0.79 per share, excluding non-recurring items, which is higher than expected, while revenues rose 71.8% year/year to $3.98 billion which is higher than expected. Revenues for both DRAM and NAND Flash products were down slightly for the third quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2014. The company's overall consolidated gross margin of 34 percent for Q3 consistent with Q2, as mix-related decreases in average selling prices were essentially offset by corresponding decreases in manufacturing costs. Q4 Bit growth- DRAM up low single digits; NAND up low to mid teens; Q4 ASPs- DRAM flat; NAND down low to mid single digits; Q4 Cost/Bit- Dram down low single digits; NAND flat; Q4 SG&A- $175-185; FY14 CapEx reaffirms $2.8-3.2 billion.
Applied Materials (AMAT) announced that its stockholders have approved its proposed business combination with Tokyo Electron. Approximately 99% of the shares voting at the Applied Materials special meeting of stockholders voted to adopt the parties' Business Combination Agreement, dated September 24, 2013, as amended. This represents approximately 78% of shares.
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