From Briefing.com: At the close of trading, the Nasdaq Composite led all major indices with gains of 128.01 points +2.73% to 4811.93. The S&P 500 ended the session up 48.19 points +2.51% to 1969.41. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted the tamest gains post-the long weekend as the index ended Tuesday trade up 390.30 points +2.42% to 16492.68. The markets ended at session highs as Tuesday trade began with notable buying. The markets hovered at or around +1.5% the entire session and never looked back.
The long weekend brought buying at the open as the overnight session again brought volatility in China, with the Shanghai Composite rising 2.9% at the close. Trading in China out shadowed mediocre data, as a trade balance of $60.24 billion was higher than the $48.20 billion that was expected and yielded a 5.5% year-over-year decline in exports and a 13.8% slide in imports.
The overnight session strength in China lead into a strong European close, where the FTSE, DAX, CAC, IBEX, PSI, MIB, and Greece ASE all closed up between 0.6% and 1.9% respectively. The strength in Europe aided US markets from the bell.
At the close, all ten sectors traded in the green as XLK +2.80%, XLV +2.80%, XLI +2.76%, and XLF +2.56% led other areas. Technology was no slouch today as the sector was notable strength from S&P 500 Information Technology sector (673.11, +18.53 +2.83%) components ADI +7.06%, XLNX +6.71%, AVGO +6.61%, SNDK +5.70%, CRM +5.41%, SWKS +5.23%, XRX +5.15%, LLTC +5.04%. As is evident from the aforementioned list, semiconductors were strong today, as Philadelphia Semiconductor (SOX 624.06, +26.44 +4.42%) component Microchip (MCHP 44.86, +3.86 +9.41%) led the way on the back of a hike in the company's Q2 guidance. Semis were also aided by certain analyst upgrades outlined below.
Also of note today, online retailer Alibaba (BABA 60.91, -3.00 -4.69%) saw selling pressure about midday as the company presented at the Citigroup Technology Conference. Cautious commentary regarding the Q3 marco environment and average sales prices (ASPs). As a result, the stock sank midday to near-two week lows near the $93.55 level.
Perhaps the most important item of note in the technology space this week, though, comes tomorrow afternoon as tech-giant Apple (AAPL 112.31, +3.04 +2.78%) will unveil the next lineup of phones you are inevitably going to buy, along with an update to the tablet line.
Other notable news items among sector components:
Xoom (XOOM 24.83, -0.01 -0.04%) announced shareholder approval for PayPal's (PYPL 34.70, +0.41 +1.20%) acquisition of the company.
Yahoo! (YHOO 30.90, -0.68 -2.15%) disclosed that Chief Accounting Officer Aman Kothari will leave the company effective September 11, 2015. Following his departure, Kenneth Goldman, current CFO will serve as principal accounting officer.
Walt Disney (DIS 104.01, +3.04 +3.01%) announced the addition of Amazon Video (AMZN 517.54, +18.54 +3.72%) and Microsoft (MSFT 43.89, +1.28 +3.00%) Movies and TV to Disney Movies Anywhere. Through the partnership, AMZN and MSFT customers can now connect to DMA and access their digital collection across the DMA ecosystem, including the mobile app, the Xbox 360, Amazon Fire tablet, Fire TV and Fire TV stick devices.
Altera (ALTR 50.20, +1.09 +2.22%) disclosed the waiting period under the HSR Act in connection with the proposed acquisition by Intel (INTC 29.50, +0.98 +3.44%) expired on September 4.
Microchip (MCHP) raised/narrowed certain Q2 guidance. The company expects Q2 non-GAAP EPS of $0.60-0.66 from $0.58-0.66 on revenues of $545-563 million from $532-569 million.
Microsoft (MSFT) confirmed it has acquired Adallom, but that financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Accenture (ACN 97.12, +2.67 +2.83%) acquired S3 TV Technology, and financial terms of that deal were also not disclosed.
Mastercard (MA 92.90, +2.37 +2.62%) announced that Samsung (SSNLF 932.51, flat) joined its Digital Enablement Express program as one of its first partners. The company also announced that Google (GOOG 614.66, +13.96 +2.32%) will be among the first digital partners to participate in the program.
Elsewhere in the technology space:
SunEdison (SUNE 12.94, +0.95 +7.92%) installed eight solar systems for India's Delhi Metro Rail Corp. The newly finished Badarpur-Faridabad line is the first metro line in the DMRC network to integrate solar into the design of the buildings. The solar systems are built on the roofs of the stations and depot and are expected to generate 1.9 megawatts of clean, reliable, and cost effective solar power.
Verizon (VZ 45.88, +1.06 +2.37%) announced it will begin technology field trials for 5G technology in 2016.
Commscope (COMM 33.45, +0.80 +2.45%) announced the acquisition of Airvana, but financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Wowo (WOWO 8.25, +0.83 +11.19%) announced the company decided to divest its group buying and other non-foodservice-related businesses in an effort to build one of China's largest internet foodservice platforms, improve its profitability and streamline its business operations.
FireEye (FEYE 38.47, +1.99 +5.46%) announced Michael Berry has been appointed SVP anf CFO effective September 21.
Angie's List (ANGI 5.21, +0.17 +3.37%) named Scott Durchslag as CEO effective immediately. Mr. Durchslag joins ANGI having most recently served as President, Global e-Commerce and Marketing at
Best Buy (BBY 37.70, +1.08 +2.95%).
Monotype Imaging (TYPE 21.98, +0.43 +2.00%) appointed Joseph Hill as CFO. Hill succeeds Scott Landers, who will remain as COO and is expected to be appointed CEO on January 1, 2016, when current CEO Doug Shaw retires.
TowerJazz (TSEM 13.95, +1.42 +11.33%) announced it signed an agreement with one of its customers to receive $30 million advance payment which would be used for capacity expansion in its worldwide fabs.
Equinix (EQIX 279.28, +9.40 +3.48%) acquired Bit-isle for about $280 million in cash. The tender offer period is expected to run from September 9, 2015 to October 26, 2015, unless the tender offer period is extended.
InterCloud Systems (ICLD 2.02, +0.04 +2.02%) announced it has been selected by one of the world's largest global systems integrators as a prime vendor to deliver outsourced managed services and support for one of the largest US government agency's next generation voice and data network. The contract term is for five years and is projected to be worth at least $10 million during the base term. The contract award is effective immediately and transition of services is currently underway.
Analyst actions:
SNDK and MCHP were upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan, ACN was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Argus, MTD was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup,
HRS was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman, MU was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at MKM Partners; MRVL was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan, INFN was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman
6:02 pm Intersil announces the acquisition of Great Wall Semiconductor, a private technology company developing power metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor technology, for initial consideration of $19 mln (ISIL) : Co announces the acquisition of Great Wall Semiconductor, a private technology company developing state-of-the-art power metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (:MOSFET) technology for cloud computing, space and consumer applications. Intersil acquired GWS for initial cash consideration of $19 million, with up to $4 million additional cash consideration based on the achievement of post-closing business metrics through 2016. The acquisition is expected to be neutral to 2015 non-GAAP earnings.
4:15 pm Vishay announces that its manufacturing facility in Tianjin is now fully operational and that all its product lines are back in operation (VSH) : At this time, the co says it is not yet possible to quantify the negative impact of this temporary production shutdown on the revenues of the diodes segment in the third quarter of 2015.
4:05 pm Flex to acquire NEXTracker for ~$245 mln; expected to be accretive to Flex's growth, margin, EPS and cash flow generation (FLEX) :
NEXTracker designs and manufactures one of the world's most advanced single-axis photovoltaic trackers that orients PV panels to maximize energy output.
Under the terms of the agreement, the initial cash consideration will be approximately $245 million, net of cash acquired, with an additional $85 million of potential contingent consideration upon achievement of future performance targets. Flex will also assume an equity incentive plan. The acquisition is expected to close early in the December 2015 quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, and contribute between $80 million and $120 million in revenue for the December quarter. Flex intends to fund the acquisition from currently available resources.
4:15 pm : After losing 3.4% last week, the restless stock market began the holiday-shortened week with a broad-based surge. The Nasdaq Composite led the way, spiking 2.7% while the S&P 500 jumped 2.5% with the bulk of the advance taking place at the opening bell.
The buying surge at the start reflected a build-up of strength in the futures market that took root yesterday as U.S. futures labored their way higher alongside European equities. Once the Tuesday session began in Asia, China's Shanghai Composite rallied 2.9% with speculation of continued state support for equities overshadowing mediocre trade data (trade balance $60.24 billion; expected $48.20 billion) that showed a 5.5% year-over- year decline in exports (expected -6.0%) and a 13.8% drop in imports (expected -8.2%; prior -8.1%).
The late-afternoon gains in China stirred up overall risk tolerance, leading to more gains in the U.S. futures market while European equities enjoyed an opening surge. Better than expected economic data highlighted the European session as eurozone Q2 GDP was unexpectedly revised up to 0.4% quarter-over-quarter from 0.3%.
Once the U.S. cash market opened, equity indices spiked, hovering not far below their highs into the afternoon. All ten sectors contributed to the opening move higher, but daylong strength in heavily-weighted groups like technology (+2.8%), industrials (+2.8%), financials (+2.6%), and health care (+2.8%) kept the market from drifting too far away from its early high. The strength in those areas proved supportive in the late afternoon as the market charged to a fresh high during the last two hours of the session.
Despite the big push higher, today's trading volume was a bit below recent averages. That said, a final buying surge brought the NYSE floor total up to 898.5 million shares versus the 20-day average of 984 million.
The top-weighted technology sector was a clear outperformer at the start and the group remained among the leaders into the close. High-beta chipmakers rallied broadly with the PHLX Semiconductor Index surging 4.4% back to levels seen in mid-August. All 30 index components posted solid gains, but the spotlight was on Microchip (MCHP 44.86, +3.86), which spiked 9.4% after the company raised its guidance.
Similar to chipmakers, the high-beta biotechnology group enjoyed all-around strength, sending the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 351.77, +14.67) higher by 4.4%. The biotech ETF climbed above its 200-day moving average (345.04) and helped the Nasdaq stay ahead of the broader market throughout the session.
With more than 2400 NYSE-listed issues ending the day with gains versus 650 decliners, green hues dominated most stock screens. Even the energy sector (+1.5%) was able to end the day well above its flat line even as crude oil futures shed 0.3%, slipping to $45.94/bbl.
Today's advance in equities lured some money out of the Treasury market as the 10-yr note retreated into the afternoon, settling near its low with the benchmark yield up seven basis points at 2.19%.
Investors received just one economic report today, which was met with little fanfare. The Consumer Credit report for July showed an increase of $19.10 billion, which was higher than the Briefing.com consensus estimate of $18.00 billion. The prior month's credit growth was revised to $27.00 billion from $20.70 billion.
Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to the 7:00 ET release of the weekly MBA Mortgage Index and the July Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which will be reported at 10:00 ET.
Nasdaq Composite +1.6% YTD
Russell 2000 -3.5% YTD
S&P 500 -4.4% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -7.5% YTD
DJ30 +390.30 NASDAQ +128.01 SP500 +48.19 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2318/1.63 bln/645 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2454/898.5 mln/653
3:30 pm :
Copper held strong gains today, which came after Glencore announced it will suspend two mines.
At the end of today's pit session, Oct copper was +4.7% at $2.43/lb at the end of today's session.
Oil prices came back today. WTI crude oil was down near $44.20/barrel late last night, but rallied some today and ended the day -0.3% at $45.84/barrel.
Oct natural gas futures rallied some today, closing +2.3% at $2.71/MMBtu.
Dec gold ended the day unchanged at $1121.00/oz, while Dec silver closed +1.2% at $14.74/oz.
11:59 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (54) outpacing new lows (41) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ABCW, ACLS, AEPI, AMRB, AMWD, APPF, BEAT, BGS, BKSC, BLD, BLDR, BRSS, BUSE, BWLD, CBF, CBNJ, CENT, CENTA, CFI, COMM, CWST, CXRX, DSGX, DXLG, DY, ECACU, EDUC, EEI, EFOI, EVBS, FBR, FIZZ, FSFG, GB, GBT, HIHO, HILL, HTM, JNP, KINS, LGIH, LJPC, NAVB, NCIT, NSSC, PAC, PATK, RYAAY, SLP, SMED, TE, ULBI, WTM, WWWW
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ACAT, AEZS, BBGI, BKE, BNTC, BNTCW, CAI, CCG, CIG, CIO, CUO, DRWI, DSWL, ENRJ, EPIQ, GBL, GPRO, GRAM, GRSHU, HZN, KERX, KFS, MN, MVC, NL, OIBR, PFG, PRGN, RCAP, RCON, RGLD, SGI, SJT, TAC, TIGR, TITN, TKC, VMEM, VNCE, VRTS, YGE
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: JJA, RJA, TIP
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