From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : The stock market continued its strong start to the week with a broad-based Tuesday rally that sent the S&P 500 higher by 0.5%. Nine of ten sectors registered gains while the benchmark index extended its week-to-date advance to 1.4%.
Equities received an opening boost from a pair of economic data points that crossed the wires this morning. An in-line CPI report suggested inflationary pressures remain contained, while a better than expected Housing Starts report underpinned homebuilders and the discretionary sector.
Fittingly, the consumer discretionary space (+0.8%) surged out of the gate and spent the entire session among the leaders. Homebuilders rallied following the upbeat data and better than expected earnings from Home Depot (HD 88.23, +4.64). The Dow component jumped 5.6%, while the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 23.99, +0.56) advanced 2.4%.
Retail stocks also played a part in the outperformance of the discretionary sector after Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS 44.21, +0.70) and Urban Outfitters (URBN 38.59, +1.67) beat their earnings estimates. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 87.05, +1.11) rose 1.3%.
While the influential discretionary sector displayed broad strength, other heavily-weighted groups were a bit more mixed. Technology (+0.7%) outperformed, while financials (+0.2%) and industrials (+0.2%) lagged.
The top-weighted sector-technology-received support from chipmakers. The PHLX Semiconductor Index recaptured its 50-day moving average and added 0.6% with all but five components posting gains. Meanwhile, most large cap tech components were limited to modest gains, but shares of Apple (AAPL 100.53, +1.37) climbed to a fresh all-time high.
Elsewhere, the top-weighted countercyclical sector-health care (+0.7%)-trailed the broader market for the majority of the session, but spiked during afternoon action in reaction to reports from the Wall Street Journal, indicating Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP 160.80, +21.63) was approached by Allergan (AGN 161.82, +6.21) about a potential acquisition. Shares of SLXP ended higher by 15.5%, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 267.23, +1.02) tacked on 0.4% after showing intraday weakness.
Similar to health care, the utilities sector (+1.2%) outperformed, while the remaining two defensively-oriented groups-consumer staples (+0.2%) and telecom services (-0.3%)-lagged.
Treasuries began the day with solid gains, but spent the session in a steady retreat. The 10-yr note shed one tick with its yield ending at 2.40%.
Participation was well below average with fewer than 550 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.
Economic data was limited to CPI, and Housing Starts/Building Permits:
Consumer prices increased 0.1% in July following a 0.3% increase in June, which matched the Briefing.com consensus
As expected from the July PPI report, energy prices fell 0.3% in July after increasing 1.6% in June
Food prices accelerated, up 0.4% in July from a 0.1% increase in June
Food at home prices, typically from grocery stores, increased 0.7%, which was the largest increase since August 2011
Excluding food and energy, core CPI increased 0.1% for a second consecutive month in July, which is what the consensus expected
Housing starts increased 15.7% in July to 1.093 million from an upwardly revised 945,000 (from 893,000) in June, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 964,000
The big news out of the housing data was an 8.3% increase (to 656,0000) in single-family construction after declines were observed in May and June
Building permits rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.052 million in July versus a revised 973K for June, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 1.001 million
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET, while the minutes from the latest FOMC policy meeting will cross the wires at 14:00 ET.
Nasdaq Composite +8.4% YTD
S&P 500 +7.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +2.1% YTD
Russell 2000 -0.1% YTD
DJ30 +80.85 NASDAQ +19.20 SP500 +9.86 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1486/1.44 bln/1244 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1957/544.4 mln/1082 3:35 pm :
The dollar index continued to hold gains, which helped weigh on commodities today
Commodities such as crude oil, gold, silver and copper all sold off today and ended the on today's lows
Sept crude oil fell as low as $94.26 and ended today floor trading session $2.97 lower at $94.34/barrel
Dec gold lost $2.40 to $1296.80/oz, Sept silver fell $0.22 to $19.42/oz and Sept copper fell 2 cents to $3.09
Natural gas futures rallied today and finished 2.4% higher at $3.88/MMBtu
Sept corn recovered and gained 3 cents to $3.63/bushel.
4:31 pm Photronics beats by $0.01, beats on revs (PLAB) : Reports Q3 (Jul) earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.06; revenues rose 13.9% year/year to $124.9 mln vs the $122.7 mln consensus.
12:26 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
TJX (58.37 +8.29%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.02 ($0.75 ex items vs $0.73 estimate), revs rose 7.4% yoy to $6.92 bln vs $6.88 bln estimate; comps +3% vs +2-3% guidance, merchandise margins flat; sees Q3 EPS of $0.81-0.85 ex items vs $0.84 estimate, comps +1-2%; sees FY15 EPS of $3.10-3.18 ex items vs $3.14 estimate, comps +1-2%
HD (88.61 +6.01%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.08 ($1.52 vs $1.44 estimate), revs rose 5.7% yoy to $23.81 bln vs $23.61 bln estimate; comps +5.8%; sees FY15 EPS of $4.52-4.38 vs $4.41 estimate, revs +4.8% (~$82.59 bln) vs $82.52 bln estimate; target raised to $78 from $77 at Canaccord Genuity
CLR (149.78 +2.71%): Higher following the announcement of a 2-for-1 stock split
Large Cap Losers
BBL (65.42 -5.90%): Co announced plans to spin off assets to form two separate companies;
BHP also lower
S (5.41 -3.74%): Seeing reports that co plans to introduce a $100 family plan; target lowered to $4 from $7 at Jefferies
IR (61.7 -0.77%): Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird, target lowered to $65 from $68
Mid Cap Gainers
JCP (10.42 +5.60%): Strengh in retailers following strong results from TJX and URBN: FIVE, DSW, RH also higher
URBN (38.43 +4.09%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.01 ($0.49 vs $0.48 estimate), revs rose 7% yoy to $811 mln vs $805 mln estimate; comparable retail segment net sales flat; upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird
KMT (45.12 +4.19%): Chairman, President, and CEO Carlos Cardoso to retire at the end of the year
Mid Cap Losers
JMEI (33.8 -8.89%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.04 ($0.16 ex items vs $0.12 estimate), revs +42% yoy to $154 mln vs $149 mln estimate; sees FY14 non-GAAP net income of $81-87 mln
PBYI (245.7 -6.16%): Resumed with a Hold at Stifel
JOE (21.94 -3.98%): Downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James
12:05 pm Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (206) outpacing new lows (41) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAPL, ACM, AER, AKR, AKRX, AKS, ALGT, AMT, ANDE, APH, APT, ARE, ARII, AVB, AVGO, AWK, BAM, BBD, BIG, BITA, BLT, BLX, BRX, BURL, BWS, BXP, CAVM, CDW, CDZI, CELG, CHH, CIB, CMCM, CMG, CNK, CNW, CPT, CRAI, CRI, CTO, CUZ, CYBE, CYH, CYS, DK, DLB, DLR, DRE, DRH, ECHO, ECL, EEQ, EFC, EFX, EIX, ELS, ENPH, ENSG, EQIX, EQR, EXP, FCH, FDO, FDS, FFIV, FIS, FISH, FISV, FLT, FRP, FSI, GBX, GCO, GGP, GPK, GPRE, GPRK, HD, HHC, HPP, HT, HTCH, HTZ, HZO, IBN, ICLR, IDTI, IESC, IHS, INN, INTU, INVE, ITUB, JBLU, JBSS, JD, JLL, JRJC, KED, KEP, KEX, KRC, LEG, LEJU, LG, LMT, LPL, LRAD, LUV, LYB, MAG, MAR, MATW, MCRL, MGA, MGPI, MITSY, MKSI, MPWR, MSG, MUSA, NATI, NEU, NEWM, NLS, NMM, NNI, NP, NRF, ODFL, PBA, PBYI, PCRX, PEB, PEI, PEIX, PEOP, PFG, PII, PKX, PLNR, PLOW, PTRY, QTS, RCL, RECN, REG, REX, RFMD, RHT, RIOM, RWC, SAIA, SAVE, SCI, SEIC, SERV, SFL, SHG, SHI, SKH, SKM, SKX, SNSS, SRC, STLD, STRA, SUSP, SVU, SWKS, SXC, SXL, TAP, TECH, TEDU, THC, TPL, TQNT, TRNO, TRUE, TSRA, TTM, TWOU, UA, UCFC, UDR, UGI, UHS, UNP, URI, URS, VAC, VDSI, VGR, VOYA, WBB, WLDN, WLK, WPX, WRE, WWAV, WY, X, ZEN, ZFC, ZTS
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ACY, AQXP, AVL, BEBE, BSI, CBNK, COUP, DLA, DLIA, DWSN, ECT, EGT, FWM, GENE, HGR, IKAN, ISSC, KBIO, KING, KIOR, LDR, LPTN, MRC, OIBR, PER, PWX, RBPAA, RDEN, RELV, S, SDR, SDT, SLRC, SUNS, SUTR, SYNC, VPCO, WH, XXIA, ZAZA, ZGNX
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: AMJ, BKF, EWH, EWW, ICF, IHF, IWF, IYH, IYR, PSK, QQQ, RTH, URE, VNQ, VWO, XLB, XLV, XLY, XME
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: BNO, JJA, SGG, SMN
9:02 am CalAmp and Masternaut sign supply agreement to broaden wireless product offerings (CAMP) : Co announced it has formalized and expanded a supply agreement with Masternaut, Europe's leading mobile resource management services company.
Under the agreement, the co will supply Masternaut with advanced telematics devices to enable trailer, heavy equipment and industrial machinery tracking with Masternaut's Connect telematics platform.8:33 am Silicom Limited announced application delivery customer to migrate appliances to use Silicom cards; expected to place ongoing orders totaling ~$1.5 mln/year (SILC) : Co announced that one of its application delivery customers has decided to replace the networking cards it currently uses in approximately 10 appliances with a variety of advanced Silicom networking cards.
The customer is considering replacing its current SSL acceleration solution with Silicom's new Coleto Creek-based card.
In addition, the customer has recently placed its first orders for the design wins already secured
Once all design wins are in place and the ramp-up periods are complete, the customer is expected to place ongoing orders totaling approximately $1.5 million per yearSanDisk (SNDK) announced the new SanDisk Ultra II SSD with enhanced SSD Dashboard.Violin Memory (VMEM) announced immediate worldwide availability of its data deduplication and compression capabilities on the Concerto 2200 solution.SunPower Corp (SPWR) has launched SunPower Choice, a new pilot leasing program to help residential customers in Melbourne, Australia, finance a SunPower solar system for no money down. As part of the program, SunPower will install its high efficiency solar panels for qualified Melbourne homeowners, providing reliable, clean electricity at a predetermined and cost-competitive monthly rate for 25 years.
The technology sector is trading higher by 0.6%, about in line with the broader market as the S&P 500 is +0.5%.
Now three weeks away from Apple's (AAPL) reported iPhone 6 reveal, and the phone and computer manufacturer hit $100.68 in intraday trading, right up to its all-time high from Sept. 2012 of $100.72 (split adjusted).
GSI Technology (GSIT) announced receipt of an unsolicited buyout offer from GigOptix (GIG) for $6.50/share, which would be a combination of cash and GigOptix common stock. The stock traded sharply lower during the first part of August, hitting a multi-month low of $4.91 intraday yesterday. On news of the unsolicited offer, the stock gapped up, and began trading today at $6.19, a roughly 25.3% hike from yesterday's close. However, as the day has progressed GSIT has given up a large part of that gain and is now trading at $5.45, a dollar below the offer price.
In mobile gaming, Cheetah Mobile (CMCM) was modestly lower today despite a beat on EPS and revenues reported premarket. While trading thinly premarket, the stock jumped to an intraday high off the open to $30.37, a 12.9% bounce off yesterday's closing price. However, the stock began to give up its gains into mid-day and is now lower by 1%.
Leaders in the space include:
RedHat (RHT), which traded up 2.6% and broke out to fresh 52-week highs. Cognizant Tech (CTSH), which gained 2.1% after Lone Pine Capital disclosed a 5.3% passive stake in an SEC filing. Oracle (ORCL), which traded up 1.9% and set new a new two month high, around it's range top and gap bottom at 41.36/41.39.
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