From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 05-Sep-14Dow +67.78 at 17137.36, Nasdaq +20.61 at 4582.90, S&P +10.06 at 2007.71
The stock market finished a cautious week on a modestly higher note. The S&P 500 added 0.5%, ending the week with a slim gain of 0.2%, while the Russell 2000 (+0.3%) shed 0.2% for the week.
This morning, the Nonfarm Payrolls report for August revealed the addition of 142,000 payrolls, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading closer to 223,000. Interestingly, this was followed by a rally in equity futures with investors viewing the report as an argument in favor of the Fed potentially delaying its first rate hike.
Equity indices slipped from their opening levels, but the S&P 500 found support near the 1990 mark, which served as resistance in July and provided support over the past two weeks. The benchmark index tested the area around 10:45 ET and spent the remainder of the session in a slow climb to new highs.
All ten sectors finished in the green, but health care (+0.6%) contributed to the opening weakness. The countercyclical sector was pressured by Gilead Sciences (GILD 105.36, -1.50) in the early going with the stock down 8.7% at its worst point of the session. Shares of GILD narrowed their loss to 1.4% by the close, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 270.60, -0.32) shed 0.1% after being down as much as 2.0%. Furthermore, the ETF logged its fourth consecutive decline, ending the week lower by 2.2%.
The underperformance of the biotech space kept the Nasdaq Composite behind the S&P 500, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq still drew a good bit of strength from the technology sector (+0.7%), which outperformed throughout the day. Components of all sizes contributed to the advance with Apple (AAPL 98.97, +0.85), Facebook (FB 77.26, +1.31), and Microsoft (MSFT 45.90, +0.64) gaining between 0.9% and 1.7%. High-beta chipmakers also displayed strength with the PHLX Semiconductor Index climbing 0.9%.
Even though technology spent the day in the green, it was the utilities sector (+1.2%) that finished in the lead.
Treasuries rallied following today's Nonfarm Payrolls report, but surrendered all of their gains during the day. The 10-yr yield ended at 2.45%.
Participation was below average with roughly 600 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.
Taking a closer look at the details of today's jobs report:
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 142,000 (Briefing.com consensus 223,000)
July nonfarm payrolls revised to 212,000 from 209,000
June nonfarm payrolls revised to 267,000 from 298,000
Private sector payrolls increased by 134,000 (Briefing.com consensus 200,000)
July private payrolls revised to 213,000 from 198,000
June private payrolls revised to 260,000 from 270,000
Unemployment rate was 6.1% (Briefing.com consensus 6.1%) versus 6.2% in July
Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) after being unchanged in July
The average workweek was 34.5 hours (Briefing.com consensus 34.5) for the sixth consecutive month
The labor force participation rate was 62.8% versus 62.9% in July
Monday's economic data will be limited to the Consumer Credit report for July (Briefing.com consensus $17.80 billion), which will cross the wires at 15:00 ET.
Week in Review: September Begins on Quiet Note
On Tuesday, the market started the abbreviated week on a mixed note with modest point changes on either side of the unchanged mark for the major indices. For the most part, the stock market was a sideshow. The main trading events were seen in the commodity and Treasury markets, both of which saw some decent-sized losses within their respective complex. Dollar strength was at the heart of the weakness in the commodity arena, which saw a 4.2% drop in natural gas futures to $3.90/btu, a 3.1% decline in oil prices to $92.96/bbl, and a 1.7% slide in gold prices to $1266.10/troy ounce. The US Dollar Index increased 0.3% to 82.99 -- a 13-month high -- as the yen hit its weakest level (105.15) against the greenback since January.
The stock market had difficulty getting anything going on Wednesday as a wait-and-see stance permeated the trading action. That was understandable given some confusing headlines about cease-fire talk between Ukraine and Russia, Apple suffering a 4.2% decline in its stock price, and the specter of policy meetings by the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England, and the ECB on Thursday. The way things ended on Wednesday was pretty much how they went throughout the day. That is, the Dow (+0.1%) and S&P 500 (-0.1%) held up better than the Nasdaq Composite (-0.6%) and Russell 2000 (-0.6%). Things sounded more promising before the open when there was talk of a "permanent" cease-fire agreement between Ukraine and Russia. However, Kremlin countered that it could not have agreed to such a thing when it is not a party to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Equities finished Thursday on a modestly lower note following a daylong retreat from the opening high. The S&P 500 shed 0.2%, while the Russell 2000 (-0.4%) settled behind the benchmark index. Overnight, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England made no changes to their policy stances, while the European Central Bank announced a rate cut. The ECB lowered its main refinance rate to 0.05% from 0.15%, cut its deposit facility rate to -0.2% from -0.1%, and cut the marginal lending rate to 0.3% from 0.4%. In addition to the cuts, the central bank announced the deployment of an asset-backed securities purchase program, but it was revealed that the decision was not unanimous. The policy move pressured the euro, sending the single currency to its lowest level since July of last year.
Index Started Week Ended Week Change % Change YTD %
DJIA 17098.45 17137.36 38.91 0.2 3.4
Nasdaq 4580.27 4582.90 2.63 0.1 9.7
S&P 500 2003.37 2007.71 4.34 0.2 8.6
Russell 2000 1174.35 1170.13 -4.22 -0.4 0.6
5:04 pm This week's biggest % gainers/losers (:SCANX) : The following are this week's top 20 percentage gainers and top 20 percentage losers, categorized by sectors (over $300 mln market cap and 100K average daily volume).
This week's top 20 % gainers
Technology:OIBR-C (0.75 +25.08%),SPLK (59.23 +24.4%),CRTO (35.27 +20.94%),CSLT (12.98 +20.04%),VEEV (29.73 +19.64%),CMGE (23.5 +19.31%),COUP (16.33 +18.87%),MEI (40.77 +18.43%),CPWR (10.63 +14.42%)Services:SGMS (12.02 +19.39%),UEPS (13.71 +18.43%),GPRO (58.75 +16.66%),UTIW (11.04 +14.33%),FLWS (6.09 +14.04%)
Healthcare:INFI (14.46 +23.64%),UTHR (112.16 +21.02%),TTPH (14.98 +18.27%),ACHN (12.17 +15.46%)Financial:HGSH (8.01 +20.03%)
Basic Materials:CENX (29.28 +13.96%)
This week's top 20 % losers
Technology:TUBE (12.05 -13.6%)Services:CONN (29.01 -35.52%),WSM (64.43 -13.79%),DHT (6.27 -11.76%),DSKY (21.87 -11.69%),NDLS (17.39 -10.89%),GCO (78.88 -10.68%)
Industrial Goods:MTRX (24.01 -20.6%)
Healthcare:EXEL (1.85 -55.1%),EPZM (28.4 -15.93%),GEVA (64.64 -14.4%),SGMO (12.34 -13.04%),XON (17.88 -12.99%),SNSS (7.1 -11.06%),AXDX (17.96 -10.76%),DRTX (14.93 -10.61%),DEPO (13.95 -10.52%)
Consumer Goods:KNDI (17.07 -11.06%)
Basic Materials:SSRI (8.08 -12.81%),CLF (14.06 -11.79%)
5:01 pm TriQuint Semi shareholders approve merger-of-equals with RF Micro Devices (RFMD) (TQNT) :
4:11 pm Fossil and Intel (INTC) announce collaboration to develop innovation in wearable technology (FOSL) : Co and Intel (INTC) announced that they will be collaborating to further develop wearable technology for the fashion industry.
Fossil Group will partner with Intel to identify, support and develop emerging trends in the wearable technology space. The companies will work together on emerging products and technologies that will be developed for the fashion-oriented consumer. In addition, Fossil Group will work closely with Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, to identify and evaluate co-investments in emerging technologies to accelerate industry innovation and stay at the forefront of the wearable consumer trend.
3:32 pm Earnings Preview for the week of September 8 - 12 (:SUMRX) : Of the companies reporting earnings for the week of September 8 - 12 some of the bigger names include:
Monday: Pre Market - CPBAfter Hours - CASY, PBY, HELI, NCS, KFY, FN, TPLM, FCEL
Tuesday: Pre Market - HDS, BKS, LDOS, BURL, TITN, JW.A, CVGW, LAYN, NX, FRANAfter Hours - SAIC, OXM, PIKE, PANW, KKD, SPA, IRET, LMNR, PPHM
Wednesday: Pre Market - VRA, MANU, PMFGAfter Hours - MW, RH, FIVE, WTSL, SIGM
Thursday: Pre Market - KR, PWE, LULU, BRC, FLWS, MBUUAfter Hours - ULTA, SPWH
Friday: Pre Market - SNOW, NTWK, DRI
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
VRTX (95.05 +3.82%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman
BP (45.95 +2.35%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup; recovery following sharp declines seen yesterday on court ruling that co was "grossly negligent" in Gulf of Mexico oil spill
ING (14.4 +2.35%): Upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays
Large Cap Losers
GPS (44.4 -4.70%): Co reported August same store sales declined 2.0% vs +1.7% Retail Metric Consensus; downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Buckingham Research
KORS (76.65 -4.15%): Priced secondary public offering of ~11.63 mln shares at $76.75 per share
GILD (102.73 -3.86%): Broad based weakness in biotech sector:
BIIB, BMRN also lower; also seeing a report that co is in discussions with generic drug makers to make Sovaldi available in developing countries at a greatly reduced cost
Mid Cap Gainers
VRNT (54.66 +6.97%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.12 ($0.72 ex items vs $0.60 estimate), revs rose 27.8% yoy to $284.7 mln vs $269.62 mln estimate; sees FY15 EPS of $3.35-3.50 vs $3.38 estimate, revs of $1.125-1.175 bln vs $1.13 bln estimate; target raised to $60 from $57 at RBC Capital Markets; target raised to $61 from $58 at Imperial Capital
MBLY (48.29 +6.44%): Target raised to $52 from $43 at RBC Capital MarketsGPRO (55.55 +4.65%): Target raised to $60 from $48 at Piper Jaffray
Mid Cap Losers
CLH (57.69 -4.50%): Downgraded to Hold from Buy at BB&T Capital Markets
ISIS (37.62 -3.74%): Broad based weakness in biotech sector: THRX, SGEN, ALNY also lowerGLNG (58.5 -3.05%): Priced secondary offering of ~27.8 mln shares at $58.50 per share
12:14 pm Broadcom probes is previous multi-year high from July at 40.74 -- session high 40.75 (BRCM) :
9:11 am RF Micro Device shareholders approve merger of equals (RFMD) : Co announced the preliminary results of its special meeting of shareholders held earlier this morning to approve its agreement and plan of merger and reorganization with TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT).
RFMD shareholders voted to approve the merger agreement and to approve, by non-binding advisory vote, the compensation arrangements for RFMD's named executive officers in connection with the transaction. TriQuint's stockholders are scheduled to vote on the merger agreement and other matters at a special meeting to be held later today.Amtech Systems (ASYS) announced its solar subsidiary, Tempress Systems, has received an order for its solar boron diffusion system from a leading Taiwan cell manufacturer, which makes it the third boron diffusion customer in that country.
8:04 am iPass expands its global Wi-Fi network to 13 mln hotspots; also announces support for the newly announced Samsung (SSNLF) Gear S (IPAS) : Co announced support for the newly announced Samsung (SSNLF) Gear S. iPass will allow wearers to access 13 mln hotspots around the world.
Ciena (CIEN 18.90, +0.39): +2.1% following a Goldman Sachs upgrade to 'Buy' from 'Neutral.'
SanDisk (SNDK 97.50, +1.27): +1.3% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to 'Overweight' from 'Equal-Weight.'
The August employment report came and went but not without leaving the impression that it was a good report for anyone who doesn't want to see the Federal Reserve raise the fed funds rate anytime soon.
That's because it showed a much weaker than expected nonfarm payroll gain of 142,000, which was well below consensus estimates and the prior 12-month average of 212,000. The report also revealed a drop in the labor force participation rate to 62.8% from 62.9%.
The reaction in the S&P futures market was swift and friendly as the futures spiked 10 points following the report's release. The cash market, however, was slow to respond and started the session on a relatively weak note. It eventually found its stride, though. The S&P moved steadily higher after finding technical support at the 1990 level and ended at its high for the day.
Fittingly, a late boost into the close was aided by Boston Fed President Rosengren who said the employment report was somewhat disappointing and that the Fed should be patient in removing stimulus, not raising rates until it is within one year of its mandate.
At about the same time, newswires were sharing the news that the IPO price range for Alibaba.com is expected to be $60-$66 and that 2.5 bln shares will be outstanding after the IPO (320 mln will be sold to the public at the IPO). That translates into an expected market cap of roughly $150-165 billion. That news certainly didn't hurt the fortunes of Yahoo (YHOO), which owns a 22.6% stake in Alibaba.com and will sell 121.7 mln shares at the IPO, according to CNBC.
It was also said late in the day that Dish Network (DISH 66.44, +0.60) is reportedly in talks with Deutsche Telekom about a T-Mobile (TMUS 30.67, +0.43) deal.
The burgeoning excitement about the Alibaba.com IPO solidified what was already a pretty solid day for the information technology sector (+0.7%), which outperformed the broader market. It did so, bolstered by healthy gains in a number of its components.
Akamai (AKAM 61.54, +1.12) jumped 1.9% after UBS started the stock with a Buy rating. Sandisk (SNDK 98.79, +2.56) increased 2.7% on the back of a Morgan Stanley upgrade to Overweight from Equal Weight.
Apple (AAPL 98.97, +0.85) supplier Avago Technologies (AVGO 87.88, +1.79) stayed hot following its earnings report earlier in the week, tacking on another 2.1%. AVGO has gained 16% over the last eight trading sessions.
Intuit (INTU 83.98, +1.72), which saw Bank of America reiterate its Buy rating after meeting with the company's CEO, also performed well on Friday.
Facebook (FB 77.26, +1.31), Microsoft (MSFT 45.91, +0.65), Google (GOOG 586.06, +4.08), and Micron (MU 32.94, +0.82) outperformed, too, as Friday's participants took a liking to many large-cap technology names.
The strength in Micron, combined with gains in Qualcomm (QCOM 75.81, +0.70), Texas Instruments (TXN 48.59, +0.33), and Intel (INTC 35.00, +0.10) gave the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index a nice 0.9% boost that accounted for nearly the entirety of its gains for the week. NVIDIA (NVDA 19.97, -0.06) didn't participate, though, as it slipped modestly in the wake of its announcement that it is suing Samsung and Qualcomm for infringing GPU patents in a number of mobile devices.
On a related note, chip makers RF Micro Devices (RFMD 12.31, +0.21) and TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT 20.41, +0.41) both garnered some added buying attention after RF Micro Devices confirmed its shareholders approved the merger of equals between the two companies. Similarly, Ambarella (AMBA 36.90, +1.13), which is a supplier for GoPro (GPRO 58.75, +5.67), logged a healthy gain after reporting better than expected earnings and upbeat guidance.
That was more than Ciena (CIEN 19.38, +0.87) did on Thursday when it reported its quarterly results, yet the networking specialist bounced back on Friday with the help of a Goldman Sachs upgrade to Buy from Neutral.
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