From Briefing.com: U.S equities opened to a storm of bad news this morning. Uncertainty surrounding Greece's bailout and political situation along with China's government potentially lowering target growth rates sent stocks gapping down when the market opened. During the day though, equities were able to pare back most of those losses to close the day relatively unchanged. The Technology Sector essentially performed in-line with the broader market XLK (-0.02%) vs SPX (-0.02%). Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components (+1.27%) was the top performing industry group in the sector, while Semiconductors lead decliners (-0.36%).
Top performing large caps in the sector:
Western Digital (WDC 107.80 +2.75) - The company reported it has resolved two non-compliance matters with China's Ministry of Commerce regarding the acquisition of HGST that was completed back in March 2012. WDC will pay a penalty of $100,000, conduct a reorganization of the department in question, and modify its subsidiary structure as a part of the resolution.
Alibaba (BABA 107.48 +2.41) - No news
Workday (WDAY 83.65 +1.69) - No news
Corning (GLW 21.48 +0.47) - Corning presented today at the Barclays Tech. Conference. During its presentation, the company increased its fourth quarter outlook for LCD glass volume, also noting that it expects supply to remain tight to demand entering 2015. In addition, the company mentioned that growth in the LCD TV market is the main driver of anticipated growth in demand for glass.
Twitter (TWTR 37.05 +0.76) - The company announced today that it will be including mobile in its Tailored Audiences ad product. This product, which allows businesses to target
customers who visit their websites and are already in their customer databases, was originally unveiled at the end of 2013. It is important for TWTR to include mobile in this initiative as more consumers ditch their laptops for tablets and large screened smartphones.
Worst performing large caps in the sector:
Broadcom (BRCM 42.65 -0.89) - Broadcom revealed that it sees fourth quarter revenues in line with average analyst estimates. Additionally, the company plans to buyback $1 billion shares in 2015. The company has also enhanced corporate governance by increasing the alignment between executive pay and stock price performance, shifting to a more performance based equity.
Red Hat (RHT 59.10 -0.96) - No news today for the company, but we note that yesterday Wells Fargo downgraded the company to Market Perform from Outperform.
Micron Technology (MU 35.66 -0.37) - No news
Elsewhere in the sector, Amazon.com (AMZN 312.50 +5.86) announced today that it will be releasing a new pricing feature that allows for customers to offer to buy items at lower than the listed price. This could provide more of a bidding atmosphere similar to Ebay (EBAY 55.40 +0.25). The company also revealed that they may be introducing an international drone delivery system.
FireEye (FEYE 30.10 -0.14) - The company plans to partner with Duetsche Telekom (DTEGY 16.33 -0.46) to enhance protection against advanced cyber attacks in Europe. The partnership is expected to offer a comprehensive managed security service that counters IT espionage much faster and effectively.
Upland Software (UPLD 10.53 -0.24) - The relatively recent IPO'd company announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire Mobile Common. UPLD will discuss further details during its upcoming earnings call on December 16, but noted that the deal is expected to increase annualized revenues by approximately $75 million.
Other movers in the sector: Netease (NTES 99.90 +1.29), Yahoo (YHOO 50.51 +0.89), Sandisk (SNDK 104.79 -1.22), King Digital Entertainment (KING 17.33 +0.75), Yandex (YNDX 20.11 +0.68), First Solar (FSLR 45.06 +0.41), Splunk (SPLK 62.61 -0.20), Apple (AAPL 114.12 +1.72)
4:10 pm : The major averages ended the Tuesday session on a mixed note after starting the day with sharp losses. The Russell 2000 and Nasdaq Composite paced the rebound, climbing 1.7% and 0.5%, respectively, while the S&P 500 settled just below its flat line. The Dow shed 0.3% and was the weakest performer among the key indices.
Equity futures were pressured this morning after the overnight session featured a 5.4% plunge in China's Shanghai Composite, which endured its biggest one-day decline since 2009. The dive occurred after the index soared 25.0% in a month and was catalyzed by the People's Bank of China taking measures to tighten liquidity conditions. The central bank fixed the USDCNY exchange rate at its highest level since July and imposed stricter collateral rules on short-term loans.
The cautious sentiment carried over to the European session with Greece's ASE Index sinking 12.8% while the country's 10-yr yield surged 91 basis points to 7.95% after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras called for a presidential election. This took place right after the country was granted a two-month extension to meet its bailout requirements and the early indications suggest the election could put the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) in power, which rattled markets. Adding insult to injury, Germany reported a 3.1% decline in November imports, which was the biggest drop in almost two years.
Despite the global weakness, U.S. equities did not spend much time near their early lows. In fact, the Russell 2000, which led the rebound, marked its low five minutes into the session and never looked back. Since most stocks in that arena are domestically-oriented, they benefited from the consideration that the difficulties for Greece and China make the U.S. economy (and market) look comparatively better. It didn't hurt either that the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for November hit its highest level (98.1) since February 2007.
The strength among small caps emboldened investors to delve into some other high-beta areas like biotechnology and chipmakers. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 314.92, +1.13) gained 0.4%, but the health care sector (-0.4%) underperformed throughout the session.
However, biotechnology did help the Nasdaq make it into the green while chipmakers climbed off their opening lows with the PHLX Semiconductor Index returning to its flat line. Large cap components of the technology sector (+0.5%) also displayed some strength with Apple (AAPL 114.13, +1.73), Google (GOOGL 536.11, +5.38), and Oracle (ORCL 41.87, +0.50) adding between 1.0% and 1.5%.
Outside of technology, energy (+0.9%), materials (+0.3%), and industrials (+0.1%) were the only other advancers on the cyclical side. The energy sector ended in the lead while crude oil jumped 1.1% to $63.82/bbl.
Although biotechnology and chipmakers contributed to the rebound, another high-beta group-transport stocks-did not play along. The Dow Jones Transportation Average (-0.6%) ended in the middle of its intraday range with airlines showing broad weakness after Spirit Airlines (SAVE 73.77, -10.70) issued disappointing guidance in reaction to increased promotional activity among its peers. Shares of SAVE plunged 12.7% while DJTA components Delta Air Lines (DAL 46.33, -1.01) and United Continental (UAL 62.52, -1.73) lost 2.1% and 2.7%, respectively.
Treasuries rallied in the morning, but surrendered a portion of their gains into the close. The 10-yr yield fell four basis points to 2.22%.
Also of note, the Dollar Index (88.73, -0.31) posted its second consecutive decline with the dollar giving ground to the yen. The dollar/yen pair was down as much as 300 pips and tested the 118.00 level before recovering to 119.60 into the afternoon.
Participation was a bit ahead of average with more than 810 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data was limited to wholesale inventories and JOLTS:
Wholesale inventories increased 0.4% for a second consecutive month in October after an upward revision to the September data (from 0.3%) while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.2%
Durable inventory levels were flat in October after increasing 0.7% in September with increases in hardware (1.6%) and machinery (0.4%) offsetting declines in autos (-1.4%) and professional equipment (-0.7%)
Nondurable inventories increased 1.2% in October after being unchanged in September with petroleum inventories falling 1.9%, which was more than offset by gains in farm products (3.6%), drugs (3.2%), and groceries (1.1%)
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for October indicated job opening increased to 4.834 million from 4.685 million
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while the Treasury Budget for November will cross at 14:00 ET (Briefing.com consensus -$59.00 billion).
Nasdaq Composite +14.1% YTD
S&P 500 +11.4% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +7.4% YTD
Russell 2000 +2.0% YTD
DJ30 -51.28 NASDAQ +25.77 SP500 -0.49 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1927/1.79 bln/968 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1889/814.0 mln/1244 3:40 pm :
Metals showed some strong gains today following weakness in the dollar index
Metals closed today's session with strong gains led by silver, which rose 5.3% to $17.14/ox
Feb gold meanwhile gained 3.1% to $1232.30/oz
WTI crude oil posted a modest gain today, ending $0.72 higher at $63.82/barrel
Natural gas gained 5 cents to $3.65/MMBtu
4:15 pm Advanced Micro announced that it is transferring its stock exchange listing to Nasdaq from NYSE, effective after market close on Dec. 31, 2014 (AMD) :
4:08 pm Broadcom sees Q4 rev at upper half of previous range; reaffirms gross margin; raises dividend 17%; announces $1 bln buyback; enhances corporate governance (BRCM) : Co issues in-line guidance for Q4 (Dec), raises Q4 (Dec) rev to $2.075-2.150 bln from $2.0-2.15 bln vs. $2.09 bln Capital IQ Consensus; reaffirms gross margin
Dividend: Quarterly dividend to increase by $0.02 per share, to $0.14 per share or $0.56 on an annual basis, a 17% year-over-year increase, beginning with the dividend that will be declared in the first quarter of 2015. Buyback: $1 billion share buyback authorization in 2015. Enhances corporate governance measures: Shift in compensation to more performance-based equity; increasing the alignment between executive pay and stock price performance
12:23 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
ABX (12.15 +5.29%): Gold companies rising as the precious metal jumps $36 on the day following a global equity selloff (GG also higher).
AZO (607 +4.47%): Reported Q1 (Nov) earnings of $7.27 per share, $0.10 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $7.17; revenues rose 8.0% year/year to $2.26 bln vs the $2.21 bln consensus.
GLW (21.41 +1.9%): In prepared remarks ahead of its presentation at the Barclays Technology Conference, the co increased its fourth-quarter outlook for LCD glass volume, expects supply to remain tight to demand entering 2015.
Large Cap Losers
TMUS (26.69 -5.35%): Announced a proposed public offering of 17,391,305 shares of mandatory convertible preferred stock, with a liquidation preference of $50 per share.
JAZZ (176.15 -3.76%): Announced there was a technical dosing issue in its Phase 1 clinical trial of JZP-386.
GSK (44.12 -3.16%): Downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
Mid Cap Gainers
SC (20.64 +12.79%): Reports out that Santander (SAN) may consider acquiring SC, its U.S. auto lender.
TLM (4.2 +12.17%): The co confirmed it has been approached by a number of parties, including Repsol (REPYY), with regards to various transactions.
BTE (15.14 +5.68%): Announced its 2015 budget and change to dividends, which revised the level down to $0.10 per share from the prior of $0.24.
Mid Cap Losers
SAVE (74.62 -11.66%): Announced disappointing guidance noting dilutive pricing arising from a change in capacity and a compression in the fare structures due to lower fuel prices; downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.
WETF (15.7 -3.98%): Heard was downgraded earlier at Sidoti.
HDS (28.69 -3.6%): Reported Q3 earnings that beat consensus estimates by $0.02, reported revs in-line; guided Q4 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus.
12:15 pm Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session- New lows (68) outpacing new highs (18) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AFSI, AON, CMS, EIX, EQR, ESRX, EXAS, HCN, LVLT, MAC, MNK, NU, PCG, SEE, SPR, WDC, WY, XEL
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ABEV, AM, AMD, APA, BHP, BP, BTU, CBI, CLR, CRC, CVX, DDD, ECA, ERF, FCX, FSLR, FTI, GGB, HAL, HES, HFC, HP, HSBC, JEC, KBR, KOS, LINE, LVS, MBT, MDU, MRD, MRO, MT, NBL, NBR, NE, NGLS, NOV, OKE, P, PBR, PBR.A, PSEC, PTEN, QIHU, RDS.A, RIO, RRC, S, SFUN, SID, SINA, SPN, SPWR, SSYS, STO, SWN, TCK, TOT, TS, UPL, VALE, VALE.P, VIP, WFT, WYNN, YNDX, ZU
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: AFK, BJK, BNO, CSJ, DBC, DIG, EWM, EWZ, GSG, IEO, IGE, IXC, IYE, JNK, OIH, OIL, PBW, REMX, RSX, SLX, USCI, USO, XLE, XME, XOP,
Note: To reduce the list of stocks making 52 week highs/lows to a manageable size we have filtered out stocks below $2 bln in market cap and below 1 mln average volume. Without this filter 67 stocks made 52 week highs and 437 stocks made 52 week lows.
9:01 am Corning at Barclays Tech. Conf. increases fourth-quarter outlook for LCD glass volume; expects supply to remain tight to demand entering 2015 (GLW) :
Gm at Display Tech. Ferrero will report that the co continues to witness a strong market for worldwide LCD glass, "driven by continued strong demand for larger LCD televisions at retail." She will note that fourth-quarter expectations for LCD glass market demand, and Corning's shipments have increased, reporting, "We now expect worldwide market demand to increase in the low-single digits versus our previous expectations of a slight sequential decline." The company also expects its quarter-four glass price declines to be even more moderate than anticipated at the beginning of the quarter and glass shipments to be up low- single digits sequentially, in line with market growth. "Glass supply is tight and is expected to remain tight to demand, as we look ahead into 2015. The expected growth of the LCD TV market, in both units and screen size, is the main driver of the anticipated growth in demand for glass," Ferrero will say. The company sees advanced displays, such as ultra-high definition televisions, driving continued growth of the LCD TV market. The company is currently operating all of its on-line capacity to meet its contractual demand and expects to maintain its current share of the LCD glass market. Ferrero will also note that she expects the glass price decline in 2015 to be more moderate than in 2014
8:31 am Corning collaborates with Samsung (SSNLF) to slim the new Galaxy ALPHA smartphone with Gorilla Glass 4 (GLW) :
8:03 am Axcelis Tech wins multiple system, follow-on order for 'Purion M' and 'Purion XE' to support flash manufacturing ramp (ACLS) : The order, from one of the world's leading manufacturers of FLASH devices in Asia Pacific, included both a Purion M medium current and Purion XE high energy implanter. The chipmaker already has the full Purion platform installed in their fab. The new systems will be used to support a high volume ramp of leading edge FLASH memory devices. The systems are scheduled to ship this year.
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