From Briefing.com: All three major induces began morning trade in the red as morning weakness following the worse than expected August Empire Manufacturing survey (-14.9) extended into the 10 a.m. ET hour. We turned green about an hour into the trading session as the major indices bounced off early morning support levels. The Nasdaq Composite finished the day up 0.9% to 5091, the S&P 500 also ended Monday up by about 0.5% to 2102, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Monday trade up 0.4% to 17545.
The day was also peppered with credit card metrics, which led the Financials (XLF 25.30, +0.05 +0.20%) higher on the session - NAHB Housing Market Index data, which for August rose to 61 from 60, leading Homebuilders (XHB 38.57, +0.43 +1.13%) higher on the session.
In a broader sense, all of the major sectors finished in the green today, with US Telecom (IYZ +1.31%) leading the pack, and Consumer Staples (XLP +0.10%) lagging, but still finished in the green -- IYZ +1.31%, XLV +1.01%, XLY +0.96%, XLB +0.57%, XLU +0.48%, XLI +0.46%, XLE +0.20%, XLF +0.20%, XLP +0.10%.
Among notable news today, Amazon (AMZN 535.47, +3.95 +0.74%) CEO Jeff Bezos responded to a NY Times article which suggested harsh working conditions at the company. In the article, some current and former employees issued statements on their experience working for the retailer. Bezos responded to the piece, asking that any employee who sees issues at the company to come forward and report them. The stock finished higher on the session, continuing a nearly two week period of sustained trade.
The S&P 500 Information Technology sector was strong on the session, led by AVGO +2.92%, XRX +2.90%, AMAT +2.34%, LRCX +2.31%, ADP +2.06%, SWKS +2.05%, BRCM +1.96%, FIS +1.68%, MU +1.59%. As is evidence by the aforementioned list, semiconductors were strong on the session, as quarterly earnings are expected from Philadelphia Semiconductor index components Marvell (MRVL 12.43, -0.01 -0.04%) and Analog Devices (ADI 59.51, +0.67 +1.14%) this week.
Other notable news items among sector components:
Accenture (ACN 103.48, +0.03 +0.03%) announced an agreement to acquire the management consulting unit of Schlumberger (SLB 83.50, -0.36 -0.43%), Schlumberger Business Consulting; financial terms were not disclosed.
Also acquired Total Logistics, an independent logistics and supply chain consultancy; financial terms of this transaction were also not disclosed.
Alliance Data (ADS 271.32, -2.46 -0.90%) reported July card services up 34% year-over-year to $11.2 billion from $8.39 billion.
Elsewhere in the tech space:
6D Global Technologies (SIXD 2.96, -0.07 -2.15%) closed $10 million equity financing through the issuance of unregistered Series A Preferred Stock to an institutional investor.
InterCloud Systems (ICLD 1.97, +0.12 +6.49%) has been selected by one of the world's largest Tier 1 communications service providers based in the United States as a prime vendor to deliver outsourced professional services and support for their wireline and wireless next generation voice, data, and transport infrastructure solutions. The contract term is for three years with two one-year options, and is projected to be worth at least $9 million during the base term, with expansion to over $15 million.
Top Image Systems (TISA 4.29, +0.25 +6.19%) announced that the company has signed a large multi-year, multi-million dollar SaaS contract with a top 5 U.S. bank. Based on a SaaS business model, the deal provides TIS both high visibility into revenues as well as a stable, consistent source of revenues against the bank's steady multi-year stream of transactions.
Digital Ally (DGLY 7.73, -0.17 -2.12%) announced an extension of its statewide contract with the State of Michigan. The Company has supplied the Michigan State Police with its DVM-800 and DVM-500Plus In-Car Video Systems for the past five years, and the one-year extension will increase the cumulative contract value since its inception to about $7.3 million.
Dataram (DRAM 1.50, 0.00) announced Anthony Lougee has been promoted from Controller and Chief Accounting Officer to CFO and Corporate Secretary, effective August 17, 2015.
Brooks Automation (BRKS 10.92, -0.14 -1.27%) has expanded its Contamination Control Solutions business with the acquisition of Contact Co. Contact, based in Kanagawa, Japan, provides automated cleaner products for wafer carrier devices used in the global semiconductor markets and generated about $5 million of revenue in its most recent fiscal year.
Analyst actions:
MU was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Wells Fargo, SINA was upgraded to Buy from Hold at T.H. Capital,
IPHI was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley;
MU was downgraded at BofA/Merrill and Wedbush, CSCO was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley
4:10 pm SunEdison and West Street Infrastructure Partners announce the formation of a new $1 billion warehouse investment vehicle, to fund construction costs and to acquire operating assets (SUNE) : Co and West Street Infrastructure Partners III announced the formation of a new $1 billion warehouse investment vehicle, the WSIP Warehouse, to fund construction costs and to acquire operating assets. TerraForm Power (TERP) will have an exclusive call right over the warehoused assets.
The WSIP Warehouse is a $1 billion investment vehicle with $300 million equity committed, subject to certain conditions, by WSIP, the infrastructure fund managed by Goldman Sachs (GS). The debt structuring will be led by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank and will provide commitments for $700 million of debt in the form of a $500 million, five-year term loan and a $200 million, four-year revolving credit facility. SunEdison has the option to expand the facility by up to $1 billion to a total of $2 billion. The decision to add additional warehouse capacity was completed following an analysis by SunEdison of its financing requirements through 2016 and after exploring alternative debt and equity transactions. SunEdison continues to explore financing alternatives, including upsizing its existing warehouse facilities and adding new warehouse facilities
4:09 pm Agilent beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS and revs below consensus (A) :
Reports Q3 (Jul) earnings of $0.44 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.41; revenues rose 0.5% year/year to $1.01 bln vs the $1 bln consensus. Orders $953 mln, down 6% (up 3% on a core basis) YoY. Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.45-0.49, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.50 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $1.03-1.05 bln vs. $1.07 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
4:08 pm Closing Market Summary: Biotechnology Leads Stocks Higher (:WRAPX) : The stock market began the trading week on an upbeat, albeit quiet, note with the S&P 500 climbing 0.5%. The benchmark index turned an opening ten-point loss into an eleven-point gain while the Nasdaq Composite (+0.9%) displayed relative strength throughout the session.
Equity indices faced some short-lived weakness at the start of the session after the August Empire Manufacturing survey came in well below expectations (-14.9; Briefing.com consensus 5.0). The report was met with a rally in the Treasury market while equity futures slipped, leading to the lower open.
Despite the early pressure, the major averages were back in the green just 90 minutes after the opening bell and they continued inching higher during afternoon action. The health care sector (+1.0%) was among the early pockets of relative strength as biotechnology rallied throughout the day. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 371.67, +7.61) climbed 2.1%, contributing to the outperformance of the Nasdaq.
Unlike health care, the remaining countercyclical sectors could not keep pace with the market. The utilities sector (+0.5%) settled just behind while consumer staples (+0.1%) and telecom services (+0.4%) underperformed.
Over on the cyclical side, energy (-0.1%) and financials (+0.2%) underperformed while the remaining six groups ended in-line with or ahead of the broader market. The consumer discretionary sector (+1.0%) was a noteworthy area of strength thanks to sector-wide support. Retailers climbed with SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 97.60, +0.70) rising 0.7% while homebuilders rallied across the board. The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 29.17, +0.46) gained 1.6%, ending at levels last seen in August 2007.
Stock-specific news was limited today, but it is worth noting that Zulily (ZU 18.74, +6.17) spiked 49.1% after agreeing to be acquired by Liberty Interactive (QVCA 29.80, -0.46) for $18.75/share.
On the downside, the energy sector spent the entire trading day near its flat line as crude oil added to its recent losses, falling 1.5% to $41.87/bbl. Including today's decline, WTI crude is now down 11.9% since the end of July.
As mentioned earlier, today's trading volume was well below average with fewer than 700 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data was limited to Empire Manufacturing and NAHB Housing Market Index:
The Empire Manufacturing Survey for August registered a reading of -14.9, which was below the prior month's reading of 3.9 and below the Briefing.com consensus estimate, which was pegged at 5.0 New orders fell to -15.7 from -3.7 while shipments declined -13.8 from +8.2 The NAHB Housing Market Index for August rose to 61 from 60, which is what the Briefing.com consensus expected Tomorrow, July Housing Starts (Briefing.com consensus 1.200 million) and Building Permits (consensus 1.257 million) will both be reported at 8:30 ET.
Nasdaq Composite +7.5% YTD
S&P 500 +2.1% YTD
Russell 2000 +1.7% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -1.6% YTD
11:50 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (220) outpacing new highs (105) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ABCB, ACFC, ACRE, ADBE, AFG, ALGT, ALK, AME, AMSG, ANSS, ATR, BYD, CASY, CBNJ, CDNS, CENT, CENTA, CO, CONE, CUBE, DHI, ELNK, ELS, EVER, EXR, FAF, FBHS, FCFP, FIS, FL, FORTY, FSFG, FSV, GPN, GSBD, HCKT, HD, HOLX, HSP, IMKTA, IMPR, INFN, JBLU, KRNY, LG, LGIH, LII, LMT, LNTH, MAS, MBLY, MCFT, MHK, MHO, MKC.V, MLM, MOH, MSTR, MWW, NDAQ, NVR, OC, OCR, OME, OTEL, PAYC, PBH, POST, PPBI, PRA, PRXL, PSA, QLTY, RNR, SCOR, SGBK, SIGI, SNPS, SPNS, SRG, SRPT, SSS, STMP, SVA, SYK, TAST, TBNK, TDG, TE, THG, TOL, TPX, TREE, TSE, TSS, UFPI, UHAL, ULTA, VMC, VNTV, WRB, WSM, WSO, XL, XUE
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AA, AAMC, AAXJ, ABGB, ABUS, ACP, ADRE, AEG, ALIM, ALTV, AMCO, AMX, ANF, AP, APOL, ARO, ASTI, ASX, ATHM, ATI, ATW, AVAL, AVH, AVL, AWF, BBD, BCA, BDSI, BETR, BGH, BGX, BIOS, BIT, BITA, BMO, BNS, BOI, BOOM, BPT, BRS, BSMX, BTE, CBD, CDOR, CEE, CERU, CETC, CFD, CG, CH, CJES, CLDN, CLNT, CMLS, CNET, CNQ, COMT, CPA, CPG, CPHR, CPL, CRCM, CU, CVEO, CVGI, CZZ, DAEG, DGRE, DHF, DHY, DISCA, DRYS, DTLK, DV, DVN, EAD, EBR, EC, EDD, EDF, EDI, EEMA, EEME, EFF, EMD, EMF, EOC, ERC, EVAL, EXH, FELP, FEO, FF, FSAM, FTF, FTW, GFN, GIM, GLF, GPS, GST, HART, HBM, HCOM, HGSH, HGT, HHY, HIBB, HIX, HLX, HNW, HPQ, HUN, HWCC, HYI, HYT, IAE, IF, IHD, IID, IPDN, ISD, ISDR, JGH, JSD, KERX, KEX, KIO, KIQ, KST, LDF, LOCO, LPL, MARA, MDVX, MEIL, MEMP, MHH, MJN, MPET, MRLN, MRO, MTR, MU, MXF, NADL, NDRO, NFEC, NLST, NOR, NOV, NSL, NSU, NTAP, NTIC, NTL, OCIP, OIBR, OIBR.C, OIS, PDI, PDS, PER, PES, PFIE, PG, PGH, PKX, PSG, PSIX, PTR, PVA, PWE, RLOG, SAN, SBGL, SBLK, SBW, SFXE, SGF, SGNL, SGNT, SID, SJR, SLTC, SPDC, SPE, SPN, SVVC, SXC, SZC, TAC, TAL, TBIO, TC, TDF, TFM, THW, TKF, TLI, TPUB, TROX, TRP, TSU, TTM, TWIN, TWN, UIS, UNT, UTIW, VALE.P, VIDI, VIV, VLT, VOC, WHZ, WLDN, WYNN, YNDX, ZFC
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: ITB, KIE, XHB
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: AFK, DBB, DBC, DJP, ECH, EEB, EEM, EPU, EWM, EWT, EWW, EWY, EWZ, EZA, GAF, GSG, ILF, JJC, OIL, THD, USO, VWO
8:33 am Arch Coal announces extension of private debt Exchange Offers (ACI) : The Exchange Offers, previously set to expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on August 14, 2015, has been extended and is now set to expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on August 28, 2015.
6:31 am Brooks Automation acquires automated cleaner product company, Contact Co; terms not disclosed (BRKS) : Contact Co., based in Kanagawa, Japan, provides automated cleaner products for wafer carrier devices used in the global semiconductor markets and generated ~$5 million of revenue in its most recent fiscal year.
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