From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Equity indices ended the Tuesday session on an upbeat note with small-cap stocks pacing the advance. The Russell 2000 jumped 0.9%, while the S&P 500 posted a slim gain of 0.1% with seven sectors ending higher.
In some ways, today's session resembled yesterday's affair as the key indices climbed out of the gate, reached their highs during the first half of action, and spent the remainder of the session in a slow retreat from their best levels of the day. Trading volume was light once again, but today's session generated a bit more activity (501 million) than what was observed yesterday.
Biotechnology outperformed for the second day in a row with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 275.71, +3.08) climbing to a new record high. The ETF rose 1.1%, while the health care sector (+0.4%) was the only outperformer among countercyclical sectors.
Meanwhile, the cyclical side fared a bit better with energy (+0.5%) and financials (+0.3%) spending the entire session ahead of the broader market. Energy rebounded from recent underperformance, while crude oil added 0.5% to $93.85/bbl.
For its part, the financial sector received support from heavily-weighted components like Citigroup (C 52.13, +0.50) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 59.74, +0.40). Similarly, foreign banks fared well with the likes of Deutsche Bank (DB 34.55, +0.66) and UBS (UBS 17.96, +0.11) posting respective gains of 2.0% and 0.6%.
The remaining cyclical sectors ended on a mixed note with consumer discretionary (+0.1%) and technology (+0.1%) finishing right behind the S&P 500, while industrials (-0.3%) settled in the red.
In the discretionary space, shares of Best Buy (BBY 29.80, -2.19) fell 6.9% after the company's cautious second-half outlook masked better than expected earnings. On the flip side, DSW (DSW 30.99, +2.62) soared 9.2% in reaction to strong results. Overall, retailers displayed strength with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 89.17, +0.66) climbing 0.8%.
On the downside, the industrial sector lagged amid weakness in transport stocks. Alaska Air (ALK 46.28, -0.61) and Delta Air Lines (DAL 39.90, -0.62) both lost near 1.4%, while the Dow Jones Transportation Average shed 0.4%.
Treasuries ended little changed after surrendering their overnight gains. The 10-yr yield finished at 2.39%.
Also of note, Presidents of Russia and Ukraine met in Minsk today for the first time since the conflict between the two governments broke out. The meeting did not produce any results, but both parties have agreed to return to the capital of Belarus for future talks.
Economic data included Durable Orders, FHFA Housing Price Index, Case-Shiller 20-city Index, and Consumer Confidence:
Durable goods orders soared 22.6% in July after increasing an upwardly revised 2.7% (from 1.7%) in June, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 7.0%
The headline surge was due to Boeing (BA 128.60, +0.27) reporting record-setting orders in July, which resulted in a 318% increase in orders of nondefense aircraft and parts, leading to an outsized 74.2% increase in transportation orders
Excluding transportation, orders fell 0.8%, while the consensus expected an increase of 0.6%
The June Housing Price Index from the FHFA rose 0.4%, which followed a revised increase of 0.1% observed during the prior month (from 0.4%)
The Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index for June rose 8.1%, while an 8.3% increase had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose to 92.4 in August from a downwardly revised 90.3 (from 90.9) in July, while the consensus expected a decline to 88.3
The Present Conditions Index increased to 94.6 in August from 87.9 in July, while the Expectations Index fell to 90.9 from 91.9
Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, which will be released at 7:00 ET.
Nasdaq Composite +9.4% YTD
S&P 500 +8.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +3.2% YTD
Russell 2000 +1.0% YTD
DJ30 +29.83 NASDAQ +13.29 SP500 +2.10 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1774/1.32 bln/931 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2007/501.0 mln/1023 3:35 pm :
The dollar index remained in positive territory in afternoon trading, which helped weigh on select commodities
Precious metals sold off in late morning trade. Silver extended its sell-off longer than gold, erasing today's gains, mostly.
Gold remained consolidated in afternoon trade following sell-off.
Dec gold ended $6.90 higher at $1285.40/oz, while Sept silver ended just 4 cents higher at $19.39/oz
Copper remained in negative territory all day and closed 3 cents lower at $3.11/lb
Crude oil gradually climbed off of the flat line, which came after its sell-off
Oct crude closed $0.50 higher at $93.85/barrel. Sept nat gas fell 2 cents to $3.92/MMBtu.
4:06 pm Analog Devices reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS in-line, revs in-line (ADI) : Reports Q3 (Jul) earnings of $0.63 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.63; GAAP revenues rose 7.9% year/year to $727.7 mln vs the $716.57 mln consensus. Q3 Non-GAAP revs of $722.4 mln. Q3 Non-GAAP gross margin of 66.5% of revenue.
Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.66-0.70, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.70 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $790-820 mln vs. $797.95 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. sees Non-GAAP gross margin expected to be ~66.2%.
12:33 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
MT (14.72 +4.99%): Upgraded to Buy from Sell at UBS.
AMG (211.89 +3.74%): Added to US Focus List at Credit Suisse.
XEC (142.58 +2.47%): Co signed various purchase and sale agreements to sell $326 mln of oil and gas assets; tgt raised to $153 from $150 at Topeka Capital Markets
Large Cap Losers
BBY (30.21 -5.56%): Beat on EPS by $0.13, reported revs in-line; guided for negative low single digit comps in 2H15.
CIG (8.41 -3.67%): Downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
QIHU (91.42 -2.61%): Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse; co plans to invest more in mobile internet, according to reports.
Mid Cap Gainers
THI (81.21 +8.69%): Co to receive CAD65.50 in cash plus 0.8025 shares from Burger King (BKW), representing a value of $94.05 based on yesterday's close; downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Longbow; Warren Buffet (BRK.B) plans to invest in deal, according to reports; downgraded to Hold at Miller Tabak; tgt raised to $81 from $65.
DSW (30.9 +8.92%): Beat on EPS by $0.05, beat on revs; raised FY15 EPS guidance; comps +0.8%.
PINC (31.9 +5.07%): Beat on EPS by $0.01, beat on revs; announced the acquisition of Aperek for $48.5 mln in cash.
Mid Cap Losers
SAFM (89.3 -6.12%): Missed on EPS by $0.56, reported revs in-line.
PSEC (10.58 -3.64%): Missed on EPS by $0.07, missed on revs.
11:52 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (187) outpacing new lows (32) (:SUMRX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ACHN, ACM, ADP, AGX, AIG, AKRX, AKS, ALL, AMGN, AMPH, ANF, APC, ARII, ARW, ATHM, AVNR, BAM, BBD, BG, BIG, BIP, BITA, BLK, BMRC, BR, BWS, CATO, CBPO, CDXS, CELG, CENX, CEP, CHH, CIFC, CNI, COO, CP, CPL, CRI, CTAS, CTP, CVTI, CW, CYH, DECK, ECL, EDE, EEQ, EFC, EFX, EL, ENPH, ENVE, ENZ, EPD, EVEP, EW, EXAS, EXP, EXPE, FCAP, FCE.A, FDO, FDS, FFIV, FGP, FISV, FSFG, GBX, GCO, GD, GIII, GILD, GLNG, GPK, GPRE, GPS, HGSH, HI, HIG, HPQ, HSII, IBA, IHS, ISS, ITUB, IVZ, JBSS, JD, KALU, KERX, KLAC, KSS, LAZ, LBY, LG, LNBB, LNC, LNG, LUV, LVNTA, M, MAG, MAR, MCRL, MDVN, MNDO, MPWR, MRK, MRO, MSG, NDAQ, NRF, NTES, OABC, ODFL, OKE, PBA, PBR, PBR.A, PEOP, PEP, PFG, PHI, PLBC, PSBH, PSX, PTR, QEP, RAIL, RDY, REGN, REV, RGA, RPM, SBSI, SCLN, SEIC, SEMG, SGBK, SHW, SIAL, SKM, SLCA, SNCR, SNY, SPCB, SPR, STE, STLD, STRA, SYA, TA, TCP, TECD, THC, THI, TPL, TRP, TRT, TSRI, TTM, TV, UCFC, UEIC, UGI, UHS, URS, VC, VFC, VII, WLK, WLL, WMS, WOOF, WPX, WRB, WRES, WSM, WY, WYN, X, XRX, ZEN, ZSPH, ZTS, ZUMZ
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AKAO, AMPE, AQXP, ARCO, ARTW, ASTI, AVL, AXX, BIOC, CACH, CCO, CTG, CTIB, DSCI, ECT, EGT, END, EOPN, EPM, KIPS, MDWD, MTSL, NRX, NTWK, PERI, PRPH, QNST, QRM, RGSE, SYNC, WGBS, XUE
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: DIA, EEB, EEM, EWW, IBB, ILF, IWF, IYF, IYH, OEF, PSK, RTH, SPY, TAO, UYG, VTI, VWO, XLB, XLF, XLV, XLY, XRT
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: FXS, JJG, SMN
10:32 am Solar Power subsidiary announces preliminary approval to develop 10 megawatt Photovoltaic Project in Shandong Province, China (SOPW) : Co announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Xinyu Xinwei New Energy, has received preliminary approval from the local government of LiaoCheng City to develop a PV project totaling ~10 megawatts, in Shandong Province, China.
Assuming final approval, construction of the project is scheduled to begin during the fourth quarter of 2014, with completion expected in 2015.
Marvell (MRVL) announced that ZTE (ZTCOF) has launched a 5-mode 4G LTE mass market smartphone for China Mobile (CHL) powered by Marvell's ARMADA Mobile PXA1920 platform.
Seagate Technology plc (STX) announced it is shipping the world's first 8TB hard disk drive.
If not for the fact that the S&P 500 closed above 2,000, Tuesday's session was a session that could be easily forgotten. Frankly, it looked like a lot of people simply didn't care that the market was open for trading or merely didn't care to trade in front of the Labor Day weekend.
Volume was anemic once again with just a smidgen over 500 million shares traded at the NYSE.
The light volume, however, didn't deter the market's bullish bias as the S&P 500 achieved another record closing high.
The information technology sector played a small part in the advance, rising 0.1% after a flat showing on Monday.
Things would have looked a little better if not for a 0.6% decline in Apple (APPL 100.89, -0.65). That drop came on light volume and may have perhaps been a bit of a sympathy trade off the disappointing earnings report and outlook from Best Buy (BBY 29.80, -2.19).
Once again, there wasn't a lot of big news to move the sector. Many sector components just traded in their own way, driven by the supply dynamics of the day.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 37.83, +0.68) was a winning standout, jumping 1.8%. It was actually one of the few stocks that traded heavier than average volume. HP said it was delivering new services to help enterprises accelerate the benefits of big data and analytics and that it was partnering with Avaya to deliver expanded communications services to the enterprise. One last missive from the Dow component was the recall of nearly six million power cords due to a fire hazard.
It was that kind of day generally speaking for the sector -- a hodgepodge of headlines that could be used (or not) as a catalyst to trade a stock but nothing that had broad sector influence.
Outside the S&P 500 information technology sector, Amazon.com (AMZN 341.83, +7.81) was one of the big story stocks of the day following last night's announcement that it will be acquiring Twitch, the leading live video platform and community for gamers, for $970 mln in cash.
Press reports indicated that Google (GOOG 577.86, -2.34) was entertaining a Twitch acquisition, which was generally heralded Tuesday as a good strategic move for Amazon.com. That understanding weighed a bit on Google's stock, which also traded down on light volume.
Qualcomm (QCOM 77.01, +0.42) for its part defied a headline suggesting it might be the subject of an antitrust probe in the EU and rose 0.6% on -- you guessed it -- light volume.
Tech Data (TECD 66.37, +0.08) pretty much stood its ground after reporting better than expected second quarter earnings results. That's not bad considering shares of TECD had risen nearly 8.0% in the 12 sessions leading up to its report.
Separately, Twitter (TWTR 48.17, +2.07), LinkedIn (LNKD 225.36, +2.88), and Facebook (FB 75.96, +0.94) traded up nicely as it appeared the traders around to play in this thinly-traded market went back to the well on some of the momentum stocks.
Plenty of others, though, just stayed away from the well altogether.
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