From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The major averages stumbled on Tuesday with the Russell 2000 pacing the slide. The small-cap index lost 0.7%, while the S&P 500 (-0.2%) gave back most of its advance from yesterday. For its part, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.1%) ended with a slim loss.
Equity indices spent the first hour of action near their flat lines after index futures slumped from their overnight highs shortly ahead of the cash open. The early weakness took place as markets in Europe retreated in reaction to disappointing survey data. Specifically, Eurozone ZEW Economic Sentiment plunged to 23.7 from 48.1 (expected 41.3), while Germany's ZEW Economic Sentiment dropped to 8.6 from 27.1 (consensus 18.2).
The news from overseas contributed to the shaky start and so did the underperformance of some closely-watched groups. Most notably, the top-weighted sector-technology (-0.2%)-spent the majority of the trading day in the red amid broad weakness. Chipmakers lagged early, but the PHLX Semiconductor Index was able to narrow its loss to 0.1% by the close. Meanwhile, most large cap tech components underperformed, while Apple (AAPL 95.97, -0.02), IBM (IBM 187.34, -0.13), and Microsoft (MSFT 43.52, +0.32) bucked the trend.
Similar to technology, the energy sector (-0.7%) also kept the market from staging a sustained rebound. The growth-sensitive sector finished near its session low, while crude oil fell 0.7% to $97.35/bbl.
Elsewhere, another influential sector-health care-was able to end just ahead of the broader market even as biotechnology weighed. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 251.66, -1.55) lost 0.6% and surrendered yesterday's gain.
Like health care, other countercyclical sectors finished near their flat lines. Consumer staples (-0.1%) and utilities (-0.1%) logged modest losses, while the weakest sector of the month-telecom services-added 0.5% to narrow its August decline to 2.5%.
Even though equities endured a sloppy session, participants did not rush in search of volatility protection. In fact, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 14.14, -0.09) finished in the red. The modest losses did not translate into higher demand for Treasuries either as the 10-yr note settled on its low with the benchmark yield up two basis points at 2.45%.
Participation was below average with 531 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data was limited to the Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey for June and the Treasury Budget for July:
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for June indicated job opening increased to 4.671 million from 4.577 million
The Treasury Budget for July showed a deficit of $94.60 billion, which followed the prior deficit of $97.60 billion, while the Briefing.com consensus expected the deficit to hit $96.00 billion
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET, while the Retail Sales report for July (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) will cross the wires at 8:30 ET. Separately, the Business Inventories report for June (consensus 0.4%) will be released at 10:00 ET.
Nasdaq Composite +5.1% YTD
S&P 500 +4.6% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.1% YTD
Russell 2000 -2.6% YTD
DJ30 -9.44 NASDAQ -12.08 SP500 -3.17 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 865/1.44 bln/1891 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1247/530.8 mln/1790 3:30 pm :
Dec gold rose to a session high of $1319.30 per ounce in mid-morning floor trade on further Ukraine/Russia tension. The European and German ZEW surveys both came in well below expectations as the Ukrainian conflict continues to weigh on sentiment while sanctions cripple businesses.
However, the yellow metal reversed towards the unchanged line in afternoon action and settled the session just 10 cents higher at $1310.70 per ounce.
Sep silver slipped into negative territory after retreating from a session high of $20.16 per ounce set in early morning action. It touched a session low of $19.88 per ounce moments before settling with a 0.8% loss at $19.91 per ounce.
Sep crude oil traded lower today as the IEA lowered its estimates for global demand growth by 180K barrels a day to 1 mln barrels a day in 2014 and said that supplies were abundant despite geopolitical tensions. The energy component fell as low as $96.79 per barrel and eventually settled with a 0.7% loss at $97.35 per barrel.
Sep natural gas touched a session high of $4.01 per MMBtu in morning action but pulled back towards the unchanged line heading into the close. Unable to regain momentum, it settled flat at $3.97 per MMBtu.
4:19 pm Advanced Micro announces commencement of exchange offer for its 6.75% senior notes due 2019 and 7.00% senior notes due 2024 for registered notes (AMD) : Co announced that, in connection with its debt re-profiling activities and its issuance in private placements of its 6.75% Senior Notes due 2019 on February 20, 2014 and 7.00% Senior Notes due 2024 on June 16, 2014, AMD has commenced a registered exchange offer to exchange all of its Private Notes for an equal principal amount of new 6.75% Senior Notes due 2019 and 7.00% Senior Notes due 2024, each of which have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
The sole purpose of the exchange offer is to fulfill AMD's obligations with respect to the registration of the Private Notes. Pursuant to registration rights agreements entered into by AMD in connection with the sale of the Private Notes, AMD agreed to file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the exchange offer in which AMD would offer to exchange any Private Notes tendered by the holders of those notes for Registered Notes containing terms that are substantially identical to the Private Notes.
4:19 pm Chipmos Technology Taiwan to acquire 19% of JMC Electric Corporation (IMOS) : Co announced that its majority-owned subsidiary, ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC., has signed a purchase agreement to acquire 19% of JMC Electric Corporation, Ltd., which is 100% owned by Chang Wah Electromaterial Inc. The non-material, all cash transaction is expected to close by the end of August, 2014.
4:10 pm Chipmos Technologyplans to repurchase 3.3% ownership from Siliconware Precision Industries (IMOS) : Co announced that its Board of Directors has approved the repurchase of 1 mln shares or 3.3% ownership of outstanding shares of ChipMOS held by Siliconware Precision Industries Co. Based on June 30, 2014 shareholding information, upon consummation of the proposed repurchase transaction, SPIL would hold 1,243,749 shares or 4.2% ownership of ChipMOS and 132,775,000 shares or 15.4% ownership of ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC.
ChipMOS anticipates that it will enter into a Share Purchase Agreement with SPIL prior to the end of August, 2014. The transaction is expected to be consummated before the end of September, 2014.
4:10 pm JDS Uniphase beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides SepQ EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (JDSU) : Reports Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.14 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.13; non-GAAP revenues rose 6.5% year/year to $448.6 mln vs the $437.1 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1 (Sep), sees EPS of $0.08-0.12, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.15 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 non-GAAP revs of $405-425 mln vs. $441.2 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:06 pm Cree beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q1 below consensus (CREE) : Reports Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.42 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.41; revenues rose 16.3% year/year to $436.3 mln vs the $443.03 mln consensus.
non-GAAP gross margin -30 bps YoY to 37.9%.Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.40-0.45, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.45 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $440-465 mln vs. $465.02 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
12:36 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
GG (28.99 +2.62%): Strength in metals/mining stocks (NEM, ABX also higher).
NBG (3.12 +2.32%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.
WFM (38.57 +0.81%): Renewed takeover chatter made the rounds.
Large Cap Losers
KORS (77.31 -3.35%): Trading lower in sympathy with KATE.
TCK (23.18 -1.9%): Downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.
NTES (81.96 -1.82%): Downgraded to Hold at China International Capital.
Mid Cap Gainers
ICPT (295 +24.38%): Reported Q2 EPS of ($0.79) vs ($0.40) ests; licensing revs of $405 mln vs $445 mln last year; discloses positive results from FLINT trial of obeticholic acid in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in 10-Q filing; upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Leerink Partners; tgt raised to $445 from $270; target raised to $500 at RBC Capital Mkts; tgt raised to $500 from $395 at Deutsche Bank.
TRAK (46.16 +18.12%): Beat on EPS by $0.04, beat on revs; guided FY14 EPS in-line, revs above consensus; filed common stock shelf offering for an undisclosed amount.
MTZ (29.44 +4.88%): Reported EPS in-line, beat on revs; guided Q3 EPS below consensus, revs above consensus; guided FY14 EPS below consensus, lowered FY14 rev guidance below consensus.
Mid Cap Losers
KATE (30.44 -21.69%): Beat on EPS by $0.05, beat on revs; increased FY14 adjusted EBITDA guidance; expects direct-to-consumer comp results for 2014 to be in the range of 15% to 17% vs previously-guided range of 12% to 15%; lowered store expansion target to 100 from 134.
MNKD (7.46 -12.54%): Pulled back following yesterday's gain on licensing agreement with Sanofi (SNY); tgt lowered to $13 from $16 at RBC Capital Mkts.
NUAN (16.22 -10.39%): Reported EPS in-line, missed on revs; announced call options for 2027 convertibles; guided Q4 EPS and rev below consensus.
11:41 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (68) outpacing new lows (55) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ADK, AKS, ALL, APH, BAM, BITA, BRK.A, BRK.B, CAR, CENX, CMCM, CNSL, CRAI, CTAS, DKL, EEFT, ELLI, ENSG, ENVE, EXAS, FNV, FRF, GAGA, GEO, GTIM, HSH, HZO, IESC, KANG, KATE, KRNY, LABL, LNBB, LXK, MATW, MFRM, MITSY, MNDO, MWE, NWL, OMAB, OVTI, PCRX, PTRY, REIS, RGLD, RIC, SERV, SHI, SIMO, SOHO, STND, SUSP, TAHO, TARO, TCX, TEDU, TLK, TNET, TPL, TSRA, TV, UCFC, VGR, VIPS, WEX, WNR, XRX
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ACY, ADGE, ADMP, ALXA, AMCO, AMDA, AQXP, ASTI, AXGN, BAXS, BDE, CARA, CCO, CGG, DDE, DNDN, ECOM, END, ENVI, ENZY, FI, FLO, FUEL, FWM, GALT, GCAP, GENE, GSIT, HEAR, INPH, KWK, LINC, MBI, MBII, MM, NBN, NDLS, NIHD, NPTN, PGN, PLX, PRSS, RNDY, RNF, SC, SDT, SIGA, SOQ, SUNS, TBBK, TPH, TRMR, VSAR, WAC, ZA
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: JJA, JJG, RJA, SGG
8:12 am Marvell: Samsung (SSNLF) launches new GALAXY Tab 4 7.0 tablet powered by Marvell's ARMADA Mobile PXA1088 system-on-chip; co also launches new 4G LTE smartphone and mobile hotspot powered by Marvell's ARMADA mobile LTE solutions (MRVL) : Marvell announced several new collaborations with Samsung (SSNLF):
Samsung selected the Marvell ARMADA Mobile PXA1088, a highly integrated quad-core application and communications mobile System-on-Chip, to power Samsung's new 7-inch GALAXY Tab 4 7.0 tablet.
Samsung launched the new GALAXY CORE MINI 4G LTE smartphone and its multi-mode mobile hotspot, the SMV101F, both powered by Marvell's ARMADA Mobile PXA family.Co also announced the introduction of its first native Non-Volatile Memory Express solid-state drive controller, the 88SS1093. The Marvell 88SS1093 NVMe SSD controller delivers high-performance solid-state storage solutions with a fully Flash-optimized architecture overcoming the SAS/SATA performance limitations by optimizing hardware and software to take full advantage on NAND and addressing the needs of data centers and client systems that utilize next-generation PCIe 3.0 SSD storage.
7:08 am Canadian Solar modules to power 44 MW North Carolina solar farms (CSIQ) : Co announced that it executed a 44 MWp module sales agreement with affiliates of Entropy Investment Management, LLC and Entropy Solar Integrators, LLC. Entropy will construct seven solar farms in North Carolina in 2014 by using high efficient Canadian Solar CS6X-P PV module series. Over the next twenty years, the projects are anticipated to generate more than 1.1 Mio. kWh of clean, renewable, solar energy. This is equivalent to taking the CO2 emission of more than 94K automobiles off the road or powering more than 130K homes.
7:02 am Trina Solar to develop 49.9MW solar power plant in UK (TSL) :
Co announced the acquisition of a 49.9 MW utility-scale ground-mounted power project in the UK from Good Energy Group PLC. The solar PV power plant received planning consent in January 2014 and will utilize Trina Solar's high quality PV modules.Construction will start in Q3 of 2014 and the site is expected to be connected to the national grid before the end of Q1 of 2015.If connection occurs prior to the end of March 2015 it will be entitled to receive 1.4 Renewables Obligation Certificates per megawatt-hour.Once operational, the project is expected to supply clean energy to more than 14,000 UK homes per year.The tech sector today is flat off yesterday's gains, mirroring the overall market, with the XLK ETF trading lower by -0.2%. News action in the sector remains slow with earnings season wrapping up soon.
IT services and consulting firm Chinanet Online (CNET) announced a partnership with Chinese search engine giant, Baidu (BIDU). The companies signed a two-year agreement for ~$26 million. This news comes just two weeks after the company regained compliance with the NASDAQ listing rule. At one point in the trading day, the stock was up 120% off the previous day's close.
Telecom company NII Holdings (NIHD) reported a miss on Q2 EPS and a beat on revenues. The shares have subsequently fallen off the table, losing more than 75% on the day. The company's revenues fell year over year, but still beat consensus estimates. The loss of $3.65 per share represented a
$1.35 miss from street estimates, and a churn of 3.39% compared to 2.67% in the previous quarter.
Voice-over-internet-protocol equipment company, magicJack VocalTec (CALL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity. The stock fell to an intraday low of $11.05 almost immediately following the open, an almost 18% dip off yesterday's close. The company reported in-line EPS, but missed on revenues last night after the close. The company cited a 'transition point' as the catalyst for the discrepancy in share price.
Finally, the Semiconductor sector is trading lower today by -0.6%, pulling back from yesterday's gains. Microchip Technology (MCHP) is up on the day +0.2%, while Sandisk (SNDK) -1.6% is lagging.
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