From Briefing.com: The stock market took a breather on Wednesday, but found its winning stride again on Thursday with the help of a dovish-sounding European Central bank, the "yes" vote in Greece to the austerity program, and uplifting earnings results from the likes of Citigroup (C 58.59, +2.13, +3.8%), Netflix (NFLX 115.81, +17.68, +18.0%), and Intel (INTC 29.90, +0.21, +0.7%).
The major indices closed at, or near, their highs for the day with the Nasdaq Composite (+1.3%) leading the way.
Once again, large-cap technology issues played a prominent role in the advance, none more so than Google (GOOG 579.85, +19.63, +3.5%), which rallied 3.5% ahead of its earnings report after Thursday's close. That report, by the way, turned out better than expected. Shares of GOOG were trading 8.0% higher in extended action as of this posting, which will be a supportive factor for the S&P 500 information technology sector come Friday morning.
The strength in Google and many of its peers, like Apple (AAPL 128.51, +1.69, +1.3%) and Microsoft (MSFT 46.66, +0.90, +2.0%), helped the information technology sector (+1.3%) outperform the S&P 500 (+0.8%).
Notable news items from sector components included the following:
Accenture (ACN 101.46, +1.50, +1.5%): Company and Hyundai Heavy Industries are collaborating to design a 'connected smart ship' that will enable ship owners to better manage their fleets and achieve potential operational savings through the application of digital technologies.
Corning (GLW 19.53, +0.48, +2.5%): Announced $2 bln share repurchase program; the program will expire on December 31, 2016.
eBay (EBAY 65.59, +2.15, +3.4%): Before Thursday's open, eBay reported Q2 non-GAAP EPS of $0.76 and revenue +7% to $4.4 bln, with strength across both PayPal and eBay. This excluded $0.3 billion of eBay Enterprise revenue that is now presented as discontinued operations. eBay and PayPal (PYPL) split will go into effect after the close on Friday. The full-year 2015 guidance provided for eBay specifically calls for net revenues to grow 3-5% on an FX-neutral basis with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.40 - $1.45 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.72-1.77. Separately, managment announced that it has concluded the sale of its Enterprise division, for $925 mln, to Permira and Sterling Partners. The transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of 2015, is subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Facebook (FB 90.85, +1.09, +1.2%): According to The Wall Street Journal, Facebook's Oculus business acquired Israeli company Pebbles for approximately $60 million.
Google (GOOG 579.85, +19.63, +3.5%): After Thursday's close, reported Q2 (Jun) earnings of $6.99 per share, which was well ahead of analysts' average expectation. Revenues rose 11.1% year/year to $17.73 bln. Company said, "Had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the second quarter of 2014 through the second quarter of 2015, our revenues in the second quarter of 2015 would have been $1,103 million higher with a constant currency growth rate of 18% year over year." Google Website revenue: +13% year-over-year. Total TAC, as % of revenue, up 23%. Operating expenses as % of revenue were 35%. Q2 Aggregate Paid Clicks: +18 year-over-year and +7% quarter-over-quarter. Paid Clicks on Google sites +30% year-over-year and 10% quarter-over-quarter. Paid Clicks on Member sites -9% year-over-year and -2% quarter-over-quarter. Q2 Aggregate cost per click: -11% year-over-year and -4% quarter-over-quarter. CPC on Google sites -16% year-over-year and -5% quarter-over-quarter. CPC Google Member sites -3% year-over-year and -3% quarter-over-quarter.
Microsoft (MSFT 46.66, +0.90, +2.0%): Acquired FieldOne, provider of field service management solutions; terms not disclosed.
Qualcomm (QCOM 64.54, +0.67, +1.0%): Company issued statement on European Competition Authority Announcement, saying the following: "We were informed that the European Commission has taken the procedural step of "initiating proceedings" against Qualcomm with regard to the two ongoing investigations into Qualcomm's sale of chipsets for mobile devices. This step allows investigators to gather additional facts, but it represents neither an expression by the Commission on the merits of the case nor an accusation against the Company. While we were disappointed to hear this, we have been cooperating and will continue to cooperate with the Commission, and we continue to believe that any concerns are without merit."
Elsewhere in the technology space:
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 1.87, -0.09, -4.6%): After Thursday's close, reported Q2 (Jun) loss of $0.17 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the company's preannouncement. Revenues fell 34.6% year/year to $942 mln. Company said, "Strong sequential revenue growth in our EESC segment and channel business was not enough to offset near-term challenges in our PC processor business due to lower than expected consumer demand that impacted sales to OEMs." For Q3, sees revenues of +3-9% quarter-over-quarter to ~$970-1027 mln. The high end of the range is below analysts' average expectation.
Fairchild Semi (FCS 15.07, -1.74, -10.4%): Before Thursday's open, reported Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.12 per share, excluding non-recurring items, which was worse than analysts' average expectation. Revenues fell 4.4% year/year to $355.2 mln, which was also less than expectations. FCS reported second quarter adjusted gross margin of 33.2 percent, up 160 basis points from the prior quarter and 20 basis points lower than the second quarter of 2014. Adjusted gross margin increased nearly two points sequentially due primarily to higher factory loadings and manufacturing cost controls in the prior quarter. For Q3, FCS sees revenues of $355-375 mln. The high end of that range is below analysts' average expectation. Fairchild said, "Demand was weaker than expected during the second quarter from some mobile and appliance customers, the wireless telecom sector as well as general market distribution. We expect to increase sales in the third quarter due primarily to higher mobile and wireless telecom demand. Company expects adjusted gross margin to be 34.0 to 35.0 percent due primarily to lower manufacturing unit costs and improved product mix."
FireEye (FEYE 48.28, -0.31, -0.6%): Announced its state government focused intelligence sharing initiative with the National Fusion Center Association. The initiative is a collaboration between FireEye and the NFCA, including the joint development of Automated Threat Intelligence Exchange Network for the California State Threat Assessment System.
JDS Uniphase (JDSU 11.17, +0.02, +0.2%): Company announced several key dates in connection with the separation of its Communications and Commercial Optical Products business segment as a separate public company to be named Lumentum Holdings Inc., and the special dividend distribution of ~80.1% of Lumentum's common stock to JDSU shareholders. For every five shares of JDSU common stock held, JDSU shareholders will receive one share of Lumentum common stock. The special dividend distribution is expected to be effective at 12:01 am on Saturday, August 1, 2015. The distribution will be paid on the first trading day thereafter, Monday, August 3. The distribution of Lumentum common stock will complete the formal separation of CCOP from JDSU. After the distribution, Lumentum will be an independent, publicly-traded company.
Taiwan Semi (TSM 22.73, +0.17, +0.8%): Before Thursday's open, reported Q2 EPS of NT$3.06, which was ahead of analysts' average expectation. Revenues increased 12% year-over-year to NT$205.4 trln. Gross margin for the quarter was 48.5%, operating margin was 37.5%, and net profit margin was 38.7%. For Q3, TSM said revenue is expected to be between NT$207-210 bln. Gross profit margin is expected to be between 47% and 49% and operating profit margin is expected to be between 36.5% and 38.5%.
YY, Inc. (YY 58.42, +0.86, +1.5%): Formed a special committee of independent and disinterested directors, to review and evaluate its received 'going-private' proposal. The Board also authorized the Special Committee to, and expects that the Special Committee will, retain independent advisors, including independent financial and legal advisors, to assist it in the process of reviewing and evaluating the Proposal.
Analyst Action:
Accenture (ACN 101.45, +1.50, +1.5%): initiated with a Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey; target $115
Avago Technologies (AVGO 134.70, +2.98, +2.3%): initiated with an Outperform at BMO Capital
Google A (GOOGL 601.78, +17.82, +3.1%): upgraded to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets; target to $670
Intel (INTC 29.90, +0.21, +0.7%): upgraded to Hold from Sell at Ascendient Capital... Needham upgrades to Buy from Hold and sets target price at $37... Cowen raised its target to $33 from $32... Northland Capital raised its target to $32 from $31; Market Perform... Piper Jaffray cut its target $1 to $37
Paychex (PAYX 47.91, +0.15, +0.3%): downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs
4:10 pm : The stock market finished Thursday on a higher note with the Nasdaq Composite (+1.3%) and S&P 500 (+0.8%) posting solid gains while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.4%) ended the day closer to its flat line.
Equity indices spiked at the start, responding to overnight strength in the futures market. Shortly after yesterday's close, Intel (INTC 29.90, +0.21) and Netflix (NFLX 115.81, +17.68) reported better than expected results, which led to a surge in Nasdaq futures in particular.
Earnings notwithstanding, Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures received a second boost after the Greek parliament voted 229-64-6 in favor of austerity measures that will allow bailout negotiations to continue with the country expected to receive EUR86 billion in rescue funds. Furthermore, the European Central Bank, which held a policy meeting today, raised the country's allowance to Emergency Liquidity Assistance by EUR900 million, which will pave the way for Greek banks to open as soon as Monday.
As the U.S. opening bell approached, the focus shifted back to earnings with Citigroup (C 58.59, +2.13) and Goldman Sachs (GS 211.18, -1.78) reporting better than expected results. However, Goldman Sachs spent the day in negative territory, snapping its five-day streak. Still, the financial sector (+1.0%) ended among today's leaders, but Goldman's relative weakness kept the Dow under pressure.
Likewise, UnitedHealth (UNH 124.93, -0.93) also pressured the Dow despite reporting better than expected results. The stock narrowed its loss to 0.7% by day's end after being down as much as 3.1% following yesterday's record close. Furthermore, UnitedHealth pressured the health care sector (+0.5%), but hospital names also weighed. For instance, Community Health (CYH 60.99, -1.42) and Universal Health (UHS 141.25, -1.18) lost 2.3% and 0.8%, respectively, after Keybanc Capital Markets downgraded both listings to 'Sector Weight' from 'Overweight.' Biotechnology, however, picked up the slack with iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 395.67, +4.91) climbing 1.3%. That strength, combined with a solid showing from the technology sector (+1.3%) kept the Nasaq ahead of the broader market throughout the day.
Large cap technology components like Apple (AAPL 128.51, +1.69), Google (GOOGL 601.78, +17.82) and Microsoft (MSFT 46.66, +0.90) climbed between 1.3% and 3.1% while Intel alternated between gains and losses before settling higher by 0.7%. Other chipmakers struggled, evidenced by the PHLX Semiconductor Index, which eked out a modest gain (+0.2%).
Overall five sectors ended ahead of the broader market, but only two cyclical groups displayed relative strength while consumer staples (+1.0%), telecom services (+1.4%), and utilities (+1.5%) outperformed on the countercyclical side.
On the downside, the materials sector (-0.3%) spent the day in negative territory amid broad weakness while the energy sector (+0.1%) was able to stay in the green even though crude oil fell 1.0% to $50.91/bbl.
Treasuries displayed losses during overnight action, but a morning recovery returned the benchmark 10-yr yield to unchanged by the close (2.35%).
Today's participation was a bit lighter than yesterday with 723 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data included Initial Claims, NAHB Housing Market Index, and Philadelphia Fed Survey:
The initial claims level declined to 281,000 for the week ending July 11 from a downwardly revised 296,000 (from 297,000) while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 283,000
The four-week moving average increased to 282,500 from 279,250, which is the first time that the four-week moving has surpassed 280,000 since the end of April
The continuing claims level decreased to 2.215 mln for the week ending July 4 from a downwardly revised 2.327 mln (from 2.334 mln) while the consensus expected a decrease to 2.285 mln
The NAHB Housing Market Index for July rose to 60 from 59 while the Briefing.com consensus expected the index to hold at 59
The Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey declined to 5.7 in July from 15.2 in June while the Briefing.com consensus expected a drop to 12.5
There was a general softening in manufacturing conditions across all areas with four out of the nine survey subcomponents contracting in July
The Shipments Index declined to 4.4 in July from 14.3 while Employment conditions were notably weak
The Number of Employees Index turned negative, falling from 3.8 in June to -0.4 in July
The Average Employee Workweek Index dropped to 4.0 from 4.7
Tomorrow, June CPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) and June Housing Starts (consensus 1.12 million)/Building Permits (expected 1.15 million) will be reported at 8:30 ET while the preliminary reading of the Michigan Sentiment Index for July (consensus 96.5) will be released at 10:00 ET.
Nasdaq Composite +8.3% YTD
Russell 2000 +5.4% YTD
S&P 500 +3.1% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.6% YTD
DJ30 +70.08 NASDAQ +64.24 SP500 +16.89 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1893/1.68 bln/942 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2165/724.8 mln/966
3:40 pm :
The dollar index continued to trade higher today, which weighed on commodities
Both oil and natural gas futures both remain near today's lows in electronic trade and also had separate catalysts weighing on prices
WTI crude has been weak following a number of variables, including the Iran nuclear agreement, which raises future oil exports, the OPEC report and the IEA oil report
Natural gas futures felt additional pressure today from the weekly nat gas storage data
Ultimately, Aug crude closed $0.49 lower to $50.91/barrel, while Aug nat gas lost $0.06 to $2.86/MMBtu
Aug gold fell $3.60 today to $1143.70/oz, while Sept silver lost $0.07 to $14.98/oz
Sept copper ended the session unchanged at $2.52./lb
12:02 pm Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (268) outpacing new lows (143) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ABCD, ABCO, ABG, ACET, ACN, AEO, AEPI, AF, AFG, AFMD, AIG, AIZ, ALDW, ALGN, ALGT, ALK, AMCX, AMED, AMSF, ANAC, ANSS, AOI, APPF, ASGN, ASND, AVY, BBP, BCS, BEAT, BFAM, BHBK, BKU, BLKB, BNCL, BNCN, BOFI, BRKL, BTO, BUD, BZC, C, CARA, CASY, CATY, CBSH, CBU, CBZ, CEB, CFNL, CHCO, CHDN, CHE, CIVI, CLGX, CMCSA, CMCSK, CNOB, COF, COLB, CRTO, CSFL, CSL, CTBI, CTRX, CUBI, CUK, CVBF, CVC, CVS, DATA, DCM, DG, DIS, DOX, DST, DXCM, DXYN, DY, EBAY, EFSC, EGBN, EL, ELLI, ENH, ENSG, EROS, ESGR, ESNT, EURN, EW, FCB, FCF, FICO, FISV, FLML, FNB, FNBC, FRME, FULT, FV, FXCB, GD, GMED, GNCMA, GPI, GPN, GRX, GSBC, GTN, HAFC, HAIN, HDS, HFWA, HIG, HMN, HOMB, HPY, HRTG, HSIC, HSP, HTBK, HZNP, IBCP, IMGN, INDB, INN, JBLU, JNP, JPM, LAD, LAZ, LEG, LHCG, LION, LKFN, LKQ, LNCE, LPCN, LUX, MAN, MBLY, MCO, MDCO, MHLD, MIDD, MMAC, MSCI, MTB, MTN, NAT, NBTB, NCLH, NDRM, NFLX, NGHC, NJ, NNA, NSTG, NTRI, NTT, NVO, NVR, NVS, NWBO, OCFC, OKSB, ONFC, OPB, OSIR, OUTR, PANW, PEGA, PFNX, PFPT, PGR, PLMT, PNC, PNFP, PRAH, PRK, PSCF, PVTB, PZN, Q, QADA, QGEN, QLIK, QQQ, QQXT, QTWO, RAI, RDY, RE, REPH, RGA, RLH, RLI, RMTI, RNST, RTRX, SBCF, SBNY, SBUX, SCHW, SCL, SFBS, SFNC, SFST, SGU, SIGI, SIRO, SNFCA, SNPS, SPSC, SQBG, SRNE, STBA, STBZ, STFC, STI, STMP, STNG, STRZA, SUBK, SUPN, SUSQ, SYF, TDY, TECH, TG, TGLS, THG, TI, TLMR, TMK, TOWN, TPX, TREE, TSCO, TSO, TSRO, TSS, TWC, TWX, TYL, UBSI, UCBI, UFCS, UFPI, ULTA, USB, USCR, VGR, WAL, WASH, WBA, WDFC, WFC, WIBC, WIX, WNS, WSBC, WSM, WTFC, XNCR, XON, YDKN, ZGNX
AI
Market Data 
Markets 
