From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The stock market finished the third quarter on a cautious note with small caps leading the retreat. The S&P 500 shed 0.3% to narrow its Q3 gain to 0.6%, while the Russell 2000 (-1.5%) widened its quarterly loss to 7.9%.
Equity indices endured another volatile affair after the S&P 500 alternated between gains and losses during the past five trading days. Today's retreat represented the second consecutive decline for the benchmark index, which registered a September loss of 1.6%.
The benchmark index displayed modest strength in the early going with help from influential sectors like technology (+0.2%), financials (-0.2%), and industrials (-0.1%). The three cyclical groups helped the S&P 500 climb to a late morning high at 1985.18, but the index spent the next two hours in a steady retreat.
The slide from highs took place amid significant weakness in the two commodity-related sectors. Most notably, the energy space (-1.2%) widened its Q3 loss to 9.2% and was pressured by a 3.6% decline in crude oil. The energy component finished the pit session at $91.16/bbl, which represented a 13.6% loss for the quarter.
Similarly, the materials sector (-1.2%) stumbled in reaction to sliding prices of metals. Silver plunged 2.9% to $16.85/ozt, while gold (-0.6% to $1211.40/ozt) and copper (-1.6% to $3.01/lb) held up a bit better.
Also weighing on commodities was the continued strength of the Dollar Index, which added 0.4% to book a 3.9% gain for the month and an even more impressive 7.8% surge for the third quarter.
On the upside, the technology sector (+0.2%) finished ahead of the remaining cyclical groups and helped the S&P 500 trim its loss into the close. Large cap components displayed strength with Apple (AAPL 100.75, +0.64), Cisco Systems (CSCO 25.17, +0.24), and Visa (V 213.37, +2.44) climbing between 0.6% and 1.2%. Meanwhile, chipmakers traded alongside small-cap stocks as evidenced by a 0.9% decline in the PHLX Semiconductor Index.
Likewise, the high-beta biotechnology group underperformed, causing the health care sector (-0.6%) to finish behind the other three countercyclical sectors. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 273.63, -2.43) lost 0.9%.
Treasuries registered losses after spending the entire session in the red. The 10-yr note fell seven ticks to send its yield higher by three basis points to 2.50%.
Today's participation was ahead of average with more than 910 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data included Chicago PMI, Consumer Confidence, and the Case-Shiller 20-City Index:
The Chicago PMI fell to 60.5 in September from 64.3 in August, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 61.5
Even though the PMI dropped more than expected, the current reading is far from a disappointment. Levels have remained above 60 for five of the past six months, and readings above 60 are generally considered too strong for long-term stability
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 86.0 in September from an upwardly revised 93.4 (from 92.4), while the Briefing.com consensus expected a fall to 92.0
This was the lowest reading in the Consumer Confidence Index since May
The Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index for July rose 8.1%, while a 7.4% increase had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus
The reading followed June's increase of 8.1%
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET, while ADP Employment Change for September (Briefing.com consensus 202K) will be released at 8:15 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 10:00 ET release of the ISM Index for September (consensus 58.5) and the Construction Spending report for August (consensus 0.4%).
Nasdaq Composite +7.6% YTD
S&P 500 +6.7% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +2.8% YTD
Russell 2000 -5.3% YTD
DJ30 -28.32 NASDAQ -12.46 SP500 -5.51 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 839/1.95 bln/1908 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1146/925.7 mln/1946
3:30 pm : The commodities space was mostly weaker today as the dollar index traded higher and the quarter came to an end.
Dec gold touched a session high of $1220.70 per ounce in morning action but quickly retreated back into negative territory. Earlier in overnight trade, the yellow metal fell as low as $1204.30 per ounce, its lowest level since early January. It managed to erase some of the losses as it headed into the close and settled 0.6% lower at $1211.40 per ounce, booking a loss of 8.4% for the quarter.
Dec silver slid to $16.85 per ounce in early afternoon pit trade, its lowest level since February 2010. It recovered back above $17 per ounce later in the session and settled with a 2.9% loss at $17.07 per ounce, declining 19.1% over the quarter.
Nov crude oil fell below the $91 per barrel level today after pulling back from a session high of $94.85 per barrel set moments after pit trade opened. The energy component traded as low as $90.86 per barrel while the dollar index held gains. Unable to find buying support, it settled 3.6% lower at $91.16 per barrel, booking a loss of 11.5% for the quarter.
Nov natural gas also retreated into negative territory after touching a session high of $4.17 per MMBtu in early morning action. It settled 0.5% lower at $4.12 per MMBtu, bringing losses for the quarter to 7.6%.
5:40 pm SunEdison announces closing of $50 million debt financing arrangement; proceeds will finance construction of a SUNE owned 23.8 megawatt (MW) DC solar power plant in Southern Jordan (SUNE) : Co announced the closing of a $50 million debt financing arrangement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
The debt proceeds will be used to finance the construction of a SunEdison owned 23.8 megawatt (MW) DC solar power plant in the Ma'an Governate, in Southern Jordan.Construction will begin in Q4 2014 and interconnection is expected to take place in Q3 of 2015.
2:05 pm Infosys extends relationship with Oracle (ORCL) to enhance support for a range of solutions and services on new technology platforms (INFY) : Co announced that it is extending its relationship with Oracle (ORCL) to enhance support for a range of innovative solutions and services on new technology platforms.
These platforms will enable enterprises to use Oracle products to reshape their business and create new innovation ecosystems.Infosys and Oracle will expand their relationship across digital marketing, big data and Oracle Cloud Applications, underpinned by investments from Infosys in Oracle technology.
2:03 pm Microsoft confirms Windows 10; company gives first look at Windows 10, highlighting enterprise advancements and open collaboration (MSFT) : Co unveiled its next Windows operating system, Windows 10, and gave a first look at an early technical preview for the PC available Oct. 1.
The company also introduced the Windows Insider Program, kicking off its largest-ever open collaborative development effort to change the way Windows is built and delivered to best meet the needs of customers. Program participants will receive the technical preview of Windows 10 and a steady stream of builds through the development cycle to use and give feedback on.
Technical updates:
Expanded start menu, apps that run in a window, snap enhancements, new task view button, multiple desktops
12:12 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
EBAY (56.55 +7.39%): Co to separate eBay and PayPal into independent publicly traded companies in 2015; expects tax-free spin-off in 2H2015; Dan Schulman will be President of PayPal, effective immediately; Devin Wenig will become CEO of the new eBay co; reconfirmed Q3 guidance; downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
WFM (38.53 +2.58%): Heard takeover chatter making the rounds.
CP (210.45 +2.58%): Co amended share repurchase program from 5,270,374 common shares to 12,650,862 common shares.
Large Cap Losers
LPL (15.92 -3.52%): Downgraded to Sell from Outperform at Credit Agricole.
PBR (14.25 -3.06%): Brazil ADRs trading lower on continued concerns ahead of Presidential Elections Oct 5th.
LYB (110.34 -2.61%): Announced that CEO James L. Gallogly will retire in early 2015.
Mid Cap Gainers
TK (66.81 +14.48%): Co adopted new dividend policy; intends to increase dividend by 75-80% with future increases linked to growing cash flows from two MLP subsidiaries; upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank; tgt raised to $90 from $68.
CENX (26.23 +9.91%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
CTAS (71.39 +8.25%): Beat on EPS by $0.04, reported revs in-line; adjusted FY15 guidance; tgt raised to $68 at RBC Capital Mkts.
Mid Cap Losers
CNW (48.07 -4.01%): Confirmed plans to increase pay for Con-way Freight drivers system-wide.
SGEN (36.85 -4.01%): Downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
IRM (32.65 -3.69%): Recall Holdings (RCLHF) confirmed that it is not in discussions with IRM or any other potential buyer.
12:06 pm Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (217) outpacing new highs (55) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AMAG, AMBA, AMBR, ANET, APT, BBLU, BSTC, CP, CQB, CTAS, CVGW, CVTI, DUK, EIGI, ESPR, ETP, FARM, FB, FDX, FNHC, GPRO, GTIM, HAWK, ICLR, IG, INTU, JACK, KNX, LMT, MACK, MAS, MFSF, MGPI, MO, MOVE, MSON, MYCC, NAII, NI, NSC, NVTL, OVAS, PFSW, PTEK, SEMI, SMCI, SNCR, SONA, STRP, TK, TREE, TTPH, VIMC, VRNT, WLDN
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AAN, ABX, ACRE, ACXM, ADNC, ADTN, AG, ALB, ALSK, ALTI, ALU, AMCO, ANGI, ATU, AUDC, AUY, AVD, AVL, AXLL, AXN, AXU, B, BAA, BAMM, BBL, BEBE, BHP, BIOC, BNFT, BRC, BRN, BSI, CA, CACQ, CALL, CASS, CCSC, CDE, CEF, CIEN, CIK, CLF, CLNE, COOL, CRCM, CRR, CRS, CVD, CVEO, CVO, CYD, DDE, DEST, DF, DO, DWSN, EDAP, EGLT, ELSE, EMITF, EOPN, ERA, ERII, ESP, ESV, ETN, EXXI, FF, FFIN, FLR, FMC, FNSR, FOSL, FRED, GBIM, GES, GEVO, GFA, GGB, GLDD, GLPI, GLT, GMO, GSK, GURE, HCAP, HL, HMNY, HMY, HOG, HOS, HOV, IAG, ICFI, IMMR, IMRS, INNL, ISSC, IVC, JEC, KBH, KBR, KEG, KGC, KN, KOP, KVHI, KZ, LFL, LRN, LTRPA, LUK, LVS, MAN, MAT, MBT, MCF, MDC, MDRX, MEA, MEIL, MELA, MFG, MGCD, MGI, MM, MOV, MPEL, MRKT, MTH, MVC, NAUH, NE, NGVC, NM, NTLS, OC, OGXI, OI, OMN, ONCY, ONP, OREX, OSK, OZM, PACD, PBY, PDFS, PDII, PERI, PGH, PGN, PHMD, PIR, PKE, PLG, POWL, PRGN, PULS, QIHU, QSII, RAVN, RBC, RIG, RLOC, RNF, RPXC, RWT, RXII, SANW, SCL, SD, SHOS, SID, SINA, SIR, SKYW, SMRT, SNTA, SOHU, SOQ, SPRT, SUNS, SVA, SYT, SYUT, TAC, TCK, TEAR, TEU, TEX, THRX, TMHC, TPH, TRIB, TRK, TRS, TTMI, TUP, TWI, TX, USAP, UVV, VALE, VIP, VTG, WGA, WGO, WPP, WPRT, WTI, WTSL, XCO, XONE, XTLB, ZA, ZEP
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: PPH, UUP
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: BJK, BNO, BWX, DBC, EWO, FXE, FXF, FXY, GSG, JJG, REMX, SIVR, SLV
10:49 am Cadence Design and ARM (ARMH) expand collaboration for IoT and wearable device applications targeting TSMC's (:TMS) ultra-low power technology platform (CDNS) : Co and ARM (ARMH) announced an expanded collaboration for IoT and wearable devices targeting TSMC's (TSM) ultra-low power technology platform. The collaboration will enable the rapid development of IoT and wearable devices by optimizing the system integration of ARM IP and Cadence's integrated flow for mixed-signal design and verification, and their low-power design and verification flow.
Analyst comments: ARMH -2.1% (downgraded to Underperform from Mkt Perform at Bernstein),
MLNX +3.3% (upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray),RMBS +2.8% (attributed to positive Jefferies comments suggesting RMBS as Apple Pay beneficiary)
HP (HPQ) announced two ARM (ARMH) based servers, including the first enterprise-class 64-bit ARM-based server, for customers that value choice in their compute strategy. Additionally, HP is making available a production-ready platform to enable software developers to develop, test and port applications to the 64-bit ARM-based server.
TSMC (TSM) and ARM (ARMH) announced the results from a key FinFET silicon validation of the ARM big.LITTLETM implementation, using ARM Cortex-A57 and Cortex-A53 processors on TSMC's advanced 16nm FinFET process technology.
29 am Apple iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus available in China on Friday, October 17 (AAPL) : Apple (AAPL) announced that iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available in China beginning Friday, October 17 from the Apple Online Store, Apple's retail stores, and an expansive network of retail stores through all three major carriers and Apple Authorized Resellers.
That's it. The third quarter of 2014 is over.
It will go down as a winning quarter for the information technology sector, which soared 4.3% versus a more modest 0.6% gain for the S&P 500.
The significant outperformance can be attributed in large part to Apple (AAPL 101.50, +1.39), which gained 8.6%. Fittingly, Apple, which said the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available in China on October 17, ended Tuesday on a winning note that helped the sector (+0.2%) outperform the S&P 500 (-0.3%).
IBM (IBM 189.83, +0.19) posted a small gain that also helped. The company announced a three-year extension to its IT infrastructure management services agreement with AmerisourceBergen (ABC 77.30, -0.33).
The story stock of the day, though, was eBay (EBAY 56.63, +3.97). It gained 7.5% after the company announced its plan to separate eBay and PayPal into two separate publicly traded companies in 2015.
The decision to do so was a complete 180 by the Board of Directors, which said in March that, "...taking them apart would destroy value by reducing their considerable synergies." Apparently, the changing competitive landscape that got mowed over recently by Apple Pay forced the change in position that activist investor Carl Icahn thought was necessary back in March.
In any event, shareholders responded favorably to the news and the perception that the two companies -- but particularly PayPal -- will do better as stand-alone companies.
eBay was the biggest percentage gainer in the sector on Tuesday followed by Computer Sciences (CSC 61.15, +1.53), which gained 2.5% on the back of a Raymond James upgrade to Outperform from Market Perform, and Accenture (ACN 81.32, +1.40), which increased 1.8% after Credit Agricole started the stock with an Outperform rating and the company said AIG had selected it to transform AIG's software platform.
TE Connectivity (TEL 55.29, -2.58) was the sector's biggest loser. It dropped 4.5% on heavy volume and no news.
In other developments, Microsoft (MSFT 46.36, -0.08) unveiled its newest operating system, Windows 10, skipping the Windows 9 labeling altogether to reflect the number of changes it has made.
A primary aim of Windows 10 is to have an OS that improves the user experience across all devices. The messaging was good, yet Microsoft's stock, which shot up 11% in the third quarter, took a breather.
A basket of stocks that not only took a breather, but were left gasping for air were the Chinese Internet stocks.
Continued unrest in Hong Kong and disappointing economic data out of China pressured the group. Leading the losses were Qihoo 360 Technology (QIHU 67.47, -3.15), YY, Inc. (YY 74.89, -2.93), Weibo (WB 18.68, -0.52), and Sohu (SOHU 50.23, -1.32).
Alibaba Group (BABA 88.85, +0.10) rose above the China-related weakness and finished the day with a small gain, helped we suspect by some window dressing by fund managers at the end of the quarter. BABA, though, ended well below its intraday high of 90.88.
New quarter starts tomorrow. Despite all my concerns it should be an up day. RtS
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