From Briefing.com: The markets finished the day split as both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 managed to climb out of the hole in the final hour of the trading day. The Dow managed the most notable gains on Tuesday, as the index added 47.24 points (+0.30%) to end at 16049.13. The S&P 500 also finished in the green, with gains of 2.32 points (+0.12%) to 1884.09. The Nasdaq Composite was the only index to close below flat lines today, ending lower by 26.65 points (-0.59%) to 4517.32. Action was mostly around break even today, as early losses quickly turned to early gains followed by a period of calm into midday. The final hour of trade saw the S&P 500 and the Dow trade red-to-green, while the Nasdaq shallowed losses.
Sectors finished the day with Healthcare (XLV +0.92%) posting the most notable strength. Others finished split, with XLI +0.66%, XLB +0.39%, XLF +0.18%, XLU +0.02% posting gains and XLP -0.04%, XLE -0.15%, XLY -0.33%, XLK -0.44%, IYZ -1.23% rounding out the losses.
Market data, led by a strong September Consumer Confidence number of 103.0 (versus August of 101.5), took the markets higher in red-to-green fashion only a half an hour after the open. Also today, the July S&P Case-Shiller 20-city Index posted a 4.96% gain over last year's result.
Of note on the day, tech-giant Apple (AAPL 110.00, -2.44 -2.17%) saw relative weakness on the heels of an initiation at Sterne Agee CRT. Analysts posted a $150 12-month target on the name, but shares instead saw relative weakness today as the Technology (XLK 38.73, -0.17 -0.44%) sector also posted late losses, coming off early gains to close below flat lines.
Despite notable weakness in AAPL, other tech names TDC +3.55%, YHOO +2.39%, MU +2.28%, GLW +2.14%, MCHP +1.98%, V +1.98%, LRCX +1.76%, NVDA +1.72%, INTC +1.70% posted solid gains. Micron (MU 14.39, +0.32 +2.31%) saw strength on the session following an analyst upgraded at Wells Fargo. The firm took shares to an Outperform rating. Also seeing notable strength on the session, Yahoo! (YHOO 28.26, +0.66 +2.39%) provided an update on the company's Alibaba (BABA 57.82, +0.43 +0.75%) stake spin off. The company still expects the spin off to be completed in Q4, and that said spin off is no longer held back by the receipt of a favorable ruling from the IRS.
In terms of the S&P 500 Information Technology sector (648.84, -3.59 -0.55%), names like PYPL -5.02%, SYMC -3.25%, FB -2.85%, CTXS -2.37%, ADSK -1.95% held the sector lower. Paypal continued weakness from the past two sessions, inching further away from the 50 day simple-moving average. Social Media (SOCL 17.01, +0.04 +0.24%) name Facebook (FB 86.67, -2.54 -2.85%) also posted the third straight day of losses on no notable news.
Other notable news items among sector components:
IBM (IBM 142.47, -0..05 -0.04%) announced plans to acquire Meteorix, a Workday (WDAY 70.70, +0.15 +0.21%) services partner. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Microsoft (MSFT 43.45, +0.16 +0.37%) announced the company will change the reporting of its financial results. Beginning in FY16, the company will report revenue and operating income under three operating segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing.
Juniper Networks (JNPR 25.04, +0.13 +0.52%) announced it will work with leading global premium airline, British Airways, to build a private cloud data center and IP/MPLS core backbone using Juniper Networks technology.
HGST, a Western Digital company (WDC 69.37, +1.12 +1.64%), announced that HGST entered a strategic relationship with Commvault (CVLT 34.03, -0.04 -0.12%). Key Solution Benefits Include: Lowest cost per terabyte for cloud-scale data backup, an archive environment that seamlessly grows to multi-petabyte scale, instant access to data, overcoming the limitations of traditional tape backups
Harris (HRS 71.07, +0.79 +1.12%) was awarded a $390 million contract to supply a new specialized handheld radio to US Special Operations Forces. The contract is five-year based on an additional one-year option.
Microchip Technology (MCHP 41.68, +0.82 +2.01%) announced that its MOST50 Intelligent network Interface Controllers are powering the infotainment systems of the new Toyota (TM 114.25, -0.97 -0.84%) Vellfire executive-lounge vehicles
Oracle (ORCL 35.49, +0.05 +0.14%) Health Sciences announced that 93 emerging biopharma organizations worldwide have become new customers in the past year, adopting Oracle Health Sciences solutions
Elsewhere in the technology space:
GSE Systems, Inc. (GVP 1.47, -0.02 -1.24%) commenced a company-wide restructuring program. The actions are expected to involve an overall reduction of about 36 positions globally and be substantially complete by October 2015. In connection with these actions, the company expects to record total pre-tax charges of about $2.6 million in the third quarter of 2015, which include an asset impairment charge of about $1.4 million related to the write-down of capitalized software development costs.
Veeva Systems (VEEV 22.83, -0.42 -1.81%) acquired Zinc Ahead for about $130 million. Transaction includes amounts to pay off outstanding indebtedness and expenses at closing, and $10 million of deferred consideration payable over three years to non-institutional shareholders and option holders.
TTM Tech (TTMI 6.01, -0.22 -3.53%) announced the consolidation of its manufacturing operations, with the plans to close three facilities. The company also re-affirmed certain Q3 guidance.
Rudolph Tech (RTEC 12.08, +0.37 +3.16%) acquired Stella Alliance, but the financial terms of said transaction were not disclosed. The Company does not expect the transaction to have an impact on the results of operations for the 2015 third quarter.
Genpact (G 22.50, -0.08 -0.35%) was chosen by Boeing (BA 128.89, +0.76 +0.59%) as its strategic partner to streamline its international finance and accounting processes.
Imation (IMN 2.15, -0.05 -2.27%) announced a series of actions to accelerate its strategic transformation. The Board of Directors has authorized plans to wind down the non-European operations of the company's legacy tape media business and Consumer Storage and Accessories segment, and to end the long-term license agreement with TDK Corporation. Imation will leverage cash from the wind down to reinvest in its Tiered Storage and Security Solutions segment.
Equinix (EQIX 268.98, -1.51 -0.56%) announced that its Board of Directors has declared a special dividend of $627.0 million, or $10.95 per share based on the number of shares currently outstanding.
Monster Worldwide (MWW 6.41, +0.15 +2.40%) announced the sale of 50.01% ownership position in JobKorea for about $85 million.
RigNet (RNET 26.39, +2.22 +9.18%) announced that it has been awarded a contract to provide remote communications solutions to a premium offshore driller across its entire global fleet of existing and newbuild rigs.
Majesco's (MJCO 4.71, +0.01 +0.29%) Software and Solutions India subsidiary entered into a Joint Venture Agreement with Mastek.
Infoblox (BLOX 15.80, -0.21 -1.31%) announced that EVP, Engineering Sohail Parekh and EVP, Marketing David Gee have resigned.
Quantum (QTM 0.70,-0.04 -6.08%) named Bassam Tabbara as Chief Technology Officer, formerly served as the company's CTO and co-founder.
Digital Turbine (APPS 0.12, -0.01 -12.27%) announced and priced a proposed public offering of 7.6 million share of common stock, as $1.57 per share.
MeetMe's (MEET 1.60, +0.04 +2.56%) Board of Directors authorized a $1 million share repurchase program.
In reaction to earnings:
Comtech Telecom (CMTL 21.30, -4.92 -18.76%) reported Q4 EPS and revs which were worse than expected. Q4 EPS came in at $0.34 on revenues of $77.46 million. The company also issued downside guidance for FY16, sees EPS of $1.34-1.50 on revenues of $300-310 million.
Synnex (SNX 81.67, -0.83 -1.01%) reported a mixed Q3. SNX saw better than expected EPS of $1.47 on revenues which came in roughly in-line with expectations at $3.33 billion. The company also issued guidance for Q4 of EPS in the range of $1.74-1.79 on revenues of $3.48-3.58 billion. The company also raised the quarterly dividend by 60% to $0.20 per share.
Analyst actions:
MU was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo,
IMI was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Northland Capital;
ARMH was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Natixis Bleichroeder,
IMN was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Lake Street
4:09 pm Cray is awarded a contract to provide a Cray XC40 supercomputer, to the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics at Kyoto University (CRAY) :
4:10 pm : The stock market ended Tuesday on an uninspiring note after surrendering the bulk of its intraday gain. The S&P 500 (+0.1%) added two points after showing an eight-point gain during the opening hour.
Equity indices rallied at the start, but the rebound from yesterday's 2.6% dive in the S&P 500 hit resistance right beneath the 1,900 level, at which point most sectors began backing away from their morning highs. The health care sector (+0.9%) held the lead throughout the day, but the influential group also retreated from its high as market-wide selling pressure grew heavier during the afternoon.
That being said, the sector was able to finish in the green while biotech names showed strength in the early going, but the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 289.48, -1.13) surrendered its gain in the afternoon, settling lower by 0.4% to widen this week's decline to 6.7%. Following today's drop, the former high-flying ETF is down 15.4% for September.
Outside of health care, industrials (+0.6%), financials (+0.4%), and materials (+0.4%) also finished ahead of the broader market while the remaining groups struggled. The consumer discretionary space (-0.3%) underperformed throughout the day amid weakness in apparel retailers and homebuilders. To that latter point, the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 25.71, -0.44) ended lower by 1.7%.
Elsewhere among cyclical sectors, energy (unch) began the day behind health care, but the commodity-related group retreated into the afternoon even though crude oil rose 1.7% to $45.24/bbl.
Also of note, the top-weighted technology sector (-0.6%) traded in-line with the market during morning action, but fell to lows in the afternoon. Shares of Apple (AAPL 109.06, -3.38) were largely responsible for the retreat as the stock fell 3.0%. Meanwhile, other large cap components finished closer to their flat lines while high-beta chipmakers outperformed with the PHLX Semiconductor Index climbing 0.7%.
Taking a look at the bigger picture, the S&P 500 settled 17 points above its low from August 24 with just one trading day remaining in September. The intraday slide from highs invited some demand for volatility protection, but a spike off session lows during the final 30 minutes of the day, pressured the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 26.54, -1.09) back into the middle of today's range.
Meanwhile, Treasuries held slim losses during morning action, but they rallied intraday to send the 10-yr yield lower by five basis points to 2.05%.
Today's participation was ahead of average with more than 980 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data was limited to Consumer Confidence and Case-Shiller 20-City Index:
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index increased to 103.0 in September from a downwardly revised 101.3 (from 101.5) while the Briefing.com consensus expected a drop to 96.0
The September reading hit its highest level since reaching 103.8 in February
In a clearly unexpected move, consumers shrugged off the negative effects of the downward-trending stock market and instead focused on lower gasoline prices and a generally improving labor market
The Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index for July rose 5.0% for the second consecutive month, which is what the Briefing.com consensus expected
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while September ADP Employment Change (Briefing.com consensus 200K) will be reported at 8:15 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 9:45 ET release of the Chicago PMI for September (consensus 52.9).
Nasdaq Composite -4.6% YTD
S&P 500 -8.5% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -10.0% YTD
Russell 2000 -10.1% YTD
11:47 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session- New lows (94) outpacing new highs (1) (SCANX) :
Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: RAI
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: A, ABBV, ACAS, ADM, AES, AMT, APA, AR, BABA, BAX, BBBY, BEAV, BEN, BUFF, CBS, CIT, CMCM, CNHI, CNP, CNX, COH, CTL, DB, DD, DE, DSW, DVN, EMN, ENB, EQT, ETE, ETP, GPOR, GPRO, GPS, GS, GSK, HES, HOT, HPQ, HSBC, HUN, IP, IR, IVZ, KMI, KSS, LQ, LVS, M, MDVN, MNK, MPEL, MTW, MUR, MWE, NBG, NRG, NSAM, NWS, NWSA, NYLD, PAA, PAH, PH, PRU, RAX, RGC, RRC, RRD, SBH, SE, SNI, STWD, SUNE, SVU, SWFT, SWN, TERP, THC, TRIP, TRMB, TRP, TSU, TV, TWX, TYC, VALE, VALE.P, WLK, WMB, WYNN, XRX, YPF
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: AMJ, BJK, EFA, EWG, EWU, EZU, FXC, HYG, JNK, PPLT, REMX, TAN, VGK
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 14 stocks made 52 week highs and 603 stocks made 52 week lows.
8:51 am Axcelis Tech announces multiple orders for 'Purion M' implanter from several specialty device manufacturers; reaffirms Q3 guidance and sees continued market share growth in FY16 (ACLS) :
Co announces that it has received orders for the Company's Purion M medium current implanter from three leading specialty device chipmakers. The systems, ranging in wafer sizes from 150-300mm, will be used in high volume production of image sensors, power devices and specialty logic chips supporting automotive, mobile and the Internet of Things market spaces. The first system has shipped, with revenue expected in the fourth quarter.Co reaffirms guidance for Q3 (Sep), sees EPS of $0.03-0.05 vs. $0.04 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 (Sep) revs of $75-80 mln vs. $78.16 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. "We remain confident that Axcelis will exit 2015 with 17-20% market share of the implant market. We also expect continued market share growth in 2016 as the Purion product family enters volume production at additional memory and non-leading edge logic and foundry fabs."Microchip Technology (MCHP) announced that its MOST50 Intelligent network Interface Controllers are powering the infotainment systems of the new Toyota (TM) Vellfire executive-lounge vehicles
6:31 am Rudolph Tech acquires Stella Alliance; terms not disclosed (RTEC) : Stella Alliance is a Massachusetts-based semiconductor inspection technology intellectual property portfolio company. The Company does not expect the transaction to have an impact on the results of operations for the 2015 third quarter. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) disclosed in a regulatory filing that on September 28, 2015, Joyce Soo Li Lam, resigned from her position as Vice President, Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer, effective on October 3, 2015. The Company appointed Jonathan H. Chou as the Company's Principal Accounting Officer effective on October 4, 2015, a role he previously held from December 2010 to June 2014.
ASML Holding NV (ASML) announced the first shipment of its new TWINSCAN NXT:1980Di immersion lithography system to support increasingly demanding multiple-patterning performance requirements.
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