From Briefing.com: The markets ended Monday trading extending gains from early trade. Most notable on the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted gains of 304.06 points (+1.85%) to 16776.43. Also strong on Monday was the S&P 500 which equaled the Dow strength, adding 35.69 points on the session, (+1.83%), to close 1987.05. The Nasdaq Composite rounded out the three major US indices with solid gains of 73.49 points (+1.56%) to end 4781.26. The strength posted today eliminated all of last week's losses as all three indices are better than +4.8% in the five day trading span.
The rally comes on the back of Friday gains, and global market strength. European markets boasted notable gains on the day as well, as the IBEX- (+3.6%), CAC-(+3.5), FTSE-(+2.8%) and the Nikkei-(+1.6%) all finished in the green. Strength among Asian equities stemmed from the Bank of Japan, as the central bank will begin a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. To that end, the yen pulled back about 0.5% versus the dollar today, landing the dollar/yen pair higher to 120.50 as the pair had spent the majority of the past two weeks near the 120.00 level.
Technology (XLK 40.87, +0.79) as a whole traded middle of the ladder among other sectors in the market. Sectors ended IYZ +3.42%, XLE +3.02%, XLI +2.84%, XLB +2.61%, XLF +2.11%, XLK +1.92%, XLP +1.71%, XLY +1.48%, XLU +1.29%, XLV +0.26%. Market data was limited today to the ISM Services Index, which declined 56.9 in September from 59.0.
As a sub-sector, Social Media (SOCL 18.47, +0.55 +3.07%) posted notable strength today on the back of Twitter's (TWTR 28.16, +1.85 +7.03%) announcement that it had selected co-Founder Jack Dorsey as CEO, his second stint in such an office. The company replaced former CEO and Chairman Richard Costolo with Dorsey, but the Chairman seat remains vacant. The appointment ends a nearly 3 month search for the new CEO, and ends Dorsey's stay as interim CEO. The company also appointed Adam Bain as Chief Operating Officer.
Also today, Internet (FDN 69.74, +1.75 +2.57%) names posted notable strength. Chief among them was Google (GOOG 641.47, +14.56, +2.32%), which as of today traded under the name Alphabet Inc. The search-engine giant also announced an investment in messaging company Symphony, according to a Wall Street Journal article.
In addition, the S&P 500 Information Technology (686.32, +12.97 +1.93%) sector also posted notable gains on the session. Sector components which outperformed the broader market today were MU +10.62%, JNPR +4.90%, HPQ +4.26%, CSCO +4.23%, LLTC +4.11%, SYMC +3.97%, MCHP +3.92%, STX +3.84%. Also today, shares of Apple (AAPL 110.78, +0.40 +0.36%) traded lower in early trade following a cautious Digitimes report noting Japanese iPhone sales have not kept up with demand observed after the previous release. The stock rebounded about midday, though, and finished above flat lines.
Other notable news items among sector components:
IBM (IBM 149.04, +4.46 +3.08%) acquired Cleversafe, a developer and manufacturer of object-based storage software and appliances. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Xerox (XRX 9.97, +0.12 +1.22%) announced that CFO Kathryn Mikells is stepping down to pursue other professional opportunities.
Diageo plc (DEO 110.38, +0.65 +0.59%) appointed Mikells as CFO effective Nov. 9.
Wind River, an Intel (INTC 31.22, +0.71 +2.33%) company, introduced the latest version of Wind River Linux. Wind River Linux 8 brings together the flexibility and interoperability of open source along with improved user experience and scalability for addressing the opportunities and challenges of IoT. The company also introduced new features for Wind River Open Virtualization.
FireEye (FEYE 31.88, -1.18 -3.57%) and F5 Networks (FFIV 122.94, +3.11 +2.60%) announced a global partnership to defend against the evolving security threats to the enterprise. The agreement also includes a unified approach to worldwide sales, deployment and support, thereby helping to ensure the best possible end-to-end experience for customers.
Juniper Networks (JNPR 28.50, +1.33 +4.90%) announced that AT&T (T 33.43, +0.79 +2.42%) has selected Juniper Networks Contrail Networking to provide software-defined networking capabilities in its AT&T Integrated Cloud infrastructure.
Google (GOOG) has partnered with Assurant (AIZ 79.68, +1.43 +1.83%) Solutions to develop and launch a mobile phone protection program in the U.S. called Nexus Protect.
Marvell (MRVL 9.13, +0.06 +0.61%) announced its continued collaboration with Google (GOOG) in enabling Chromecast 2.0 and Chromecast Audio powered by Marvell's ARMADA 1500 Mini Plus (88DE3006) and advanced Avastar 88W8887 solutions.
Elsewhere in the technology space:
GoDaddy (GDDY 26.04, +0.37 +1.44%) announced customers pointing a domain name to social media sites increased 37% over the last 18 months.
Viacom (VIAB 45.46, +1.13 +2.55%) and AT&T (T) reached a multi-year distribution agreement for VIAB's media networks both AT&T's U-verse TV and DIRECTV platforms.
GigOptix (GIG 1.84, +0.10 +5.75%) received a $6.1 million order for the next two years with supplier of advanced aerospace and defense products.
Tyler Tech (TYL 168.82, +0.81 +0.48%) announced a $30 million agreement with Cook County, Illinois for its iasWorld appraisal and tax admin software solution.
Fusion Telecom Int'l (FSNN 2.07, +0.09 +4.55%) acquired RootAxcess. The company expects the ddeal to be immediately accretive to FSNN's earnings and cash flow.
SunEdison (SUNE 9.04, +0.77 +9.31%) announced a proposed series of actions to optimize business operations in alignment with current and future market opportunities.
VASCO Data Security (VDSI 17.40, -0.44 -2.47%) named former Groupon (GRPN 3.60, +0.19 +5.57%) EMEA CFO Mark Hoyt as CFO.
Kulicke & Soffa President and CEO Bruno Guilmart to step down effective today. Guilmart plans to retire but will serve as an advisor to the Board of Directors until calendar year end 2015.
Relx (RELX 17.59, +0.03 +0.17%) to sell its Cordell Information unit in Australia to Corelogic (CLGX 38.73, +0.85 +2.24%). Financial terms were not disclosed.
Siliconware Precision (SPIL 6.28, -0.01 -0.16%) responded to Advanced Semi's (ASX 5.43, +0.01 +0.28%) preliminary injunction. SPIL stated that ASE is claiming to be making a 'financial investment' in the company, but SPIL would note that ASE has yet to formally register as a shareholder of the company, and that ASE seeks to prevent the company from holding the extraordinary shareholders meeting.
ASX then issued an open letter to SPIL shareholders. The letter highlighted ASX is not alone in opposing the proposals to be voted upon at the meeting.
Telenor (TELNY 57.23, +1.20 +2.14%) to divest stake in VimpleCom (VIP 4.08, +0.03 +0.74%), of which the company holds a 33% stake.
Novatel Wireless (MIFI 2.39, +0.12 +5.29%) filed for about a 13.07 million share offering of common stock for selling shareholders.
Action Semi (ACTS 1.72, -0.03 -1.71%) purchased 83,999,299 shares at $2.30 per ADS under the previously disclosed 84 million share tender offer.
Analyst actions:
TWTR was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Axiom Capital,
JNPR was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel;
FEYE was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray,
LRCX and AMAT were downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Mkts
4:33 pm Silicon Motion sees Q4 revs +8-10% sequentially (up from previous guidance of +5-10% sequentially) vs Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of +7.6% ($93.81 mln) (SIMO) : Gross margin (non-GAAP) is expected to be near the mid-point of the company's original guidance range of 50% to 52%. The Company will release its full third quarter 2015 results after the market closes on October 28, 2015.
4:05 pm : The stock market enjoyed an upbeat start to the trading week with the S&P 500 returning near its rebound high from the middle of September. The benchmark index climbed 1.8% while the Nasdaq Composite (+1.6%) followed not far behind.
The Monday buying frenzy was not fueled by quarterly earnings as the first portion of the reporting period is still two weeks away. Instead, the advance was a continuation of the Friday rally, which was predicated on the belief that a disappointing September Nonfarm Payrolls report would prevent the Federal Reserve from raising rates at the October meeting. In that same vein, the bad-is-good dynamic appeared to be on display overseas as Japan's Nikkei (+1.6%), Germany's DAX (+2.7%), and France's CAC (+3.5%) vaulted higher even though Services PMI readings in Japan (51.4; prior 53.7) and the eurozone (53.7; expected 54.0) disappointed.
With global investors showing hope for more monetary stimulus, the spotlight will be on the Bank of Japan considering the central bank will begin a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. Last week, Bloomberg reported that the BoJ is not looking to increase the size of its quantitative and qualitative easing program, but some investors remain hopeful for a surprise to the contrary. The yen retreated about 0.5% against the dollar today, sending the dollar/yen pair up to 120.50 after spending the bulk of the past two weeks near 120.00.
All ten sectors finished the day in positive territory, but the health care space (+0.3%) struggled to stay in the green as biotechnology weighed. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 313.20, -2.33) was in for another volatile session, surrendering an early gain to end lower by 0.7% after being down more than 2.0%. That being said, biotechnology's underperformance only left its mark on the Nasdaq as the tech-heavy index lagged throughout the day. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 overcame that weakness with ease.
Cyclical sectors were at the forefront of the Monday advance with energy (+3.0%) holding the lead throughout the session. The sector rallied behind crude oil early on and continued its charge into the afternoon even as WTI crude retreated from its best level of the day, ending higher by 1.6% at $46.26/bbl.
Elsewhere, top-weighted technology (+1.9%) and financials (+2.1%) spent the day just ahead of the broader market while the industrial sector (+2.8%) was nearly as strong as energy. Transport stocks went along for the ride with the Dow Jones Transportation Average spiking 2.3% to register its fifth consecutive advance.
Also of note, the technology sector managed to spend the day ahead of the broader market even though Apple (AAPL 110.78, +0.40) struggled to keep pace. The sector heavyweight underperformed after Digitimes reported that new iPhone sales in Japan have not kept up with demand observed after the previous release.
Today's rally in equities coincided with daylong selling in the Treasury market that pushed the 10-yr note below Friday's low. As a result, the benchmark yield rose seven basis points to 2.06%.
Trading volume was well above average as more than a billion shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data was limited to the ISM Services Index, which declined to 56.9 in September from 59.0 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a drop to 58.0. Although many of the sub-categories in the index showed sharp declines in September, there wasn't a prevalence of contractions like those that plagued the ISM Manufacturing Index. The services sector remains much more robust than the manufacturing sector.
Tomorrow, the August Trade Balance will be reported at 8:30 ET (Briefing.com consensus -$44.50 billion).
Nasdaq Composite +1.0% YTD
S&P 500 -3.5% YTD
Russell 2000 -5.3% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -5.9% YTD
DJ30 +304.06 NASDAQ +73.49 SP500 +35.68 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2346/1.85 bln/638 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2745/1.05 bln/376
3:35 pm :
Oil prices were a big story today after more catalysts hit the commodity.
Oil prices rose today after Russia said it was ready to talk about global oil markets if an OPEC/non-OPEC meeting were to arise, among other catalysts.
Separately, Russia airstrikes in Syria are providing more tension on geopolitical issues.
By the end of today's floor trading session, Nov crude oil rose +1.6% to $46.28/barrel.
In other energy, Nov natural gas gained one cent to finish at $2.46/MMBtu.
Some metals lost some steam in afternoon activity, but still closed a little higher.
Silver came back, however, and ended the day near today's high, finishing +0.48 at $15.72/oz.
Dec gold ended +$1.20 to $1137.90/oz. Dec copper, meanwhile, ended +$0.03 at $2.36/lb
12:05 pm Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (72) outpacing new lows (50) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAME, AAP, ABTL, ACGL, ARTNA, ATO, AWR, BGSF, BNK, CBOE, CBZ, CENT, CENTA, CHFN, COR, CRWN, CSFL, CTRV, CUBE, DSGX, ELS, ENVI, EPAM, EQC, FBC, FCN, FCVA, FIZZ, FLTX, FNFG, GCI, GPN, GSBC, HDB, HILL, HNNA, HRB, HRL, HTBI, INFY, JE, JKHY, LABL, LG, MAA, MCZ, MNRO, NCI, NEWR, NKE, NVDA, OGS, OSIS, PBY, POOL, PSA, RLH, SFST, SMED, SNX, SSRI, TACT, TSN, TYL, UCBA, ULBI, UVE, VRSK, VRSN, WDFC, WGL, XUE
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ACPW, ARCI, ARO, ARTW, ASCMA, BGT, BIND, BOX, CATB, CCCR, CDZI, CETC, CGNT, CHEF, CPSI, CPST, ESSX, FDEU, FSI, GKOS, GROW, HGSH, IMN, ISRL, LNTH, MDVX, MSL, NCTY, NSPR, NTRA, NVLS, NWLI, NXTD, ORIG, PRGN, PRKR, PVA, RBCN, RBY, RCG, RJF, SIEN, STDY, TDOC, TDY, TRMR, VRNG, VVR, ZAZA, ZSAN
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: None
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: None
Marvell (MRVL) announced its continued collaboration with Google (GOOG) in enabling Chromecast 2.0 and Chromecast Audio powered by Marvell's ARMADA 1500 Mini Plus (88DE3006) and advanced Avastar 88W8887 solutions.
6:30 am Kulicke & Soffa President and CEO Bruno Guilmart to step down (KLIC) : The co announced that it has agreed with Bruno Guilmart that he will step down as President, Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of the Company effective today. Mr. Guilmart plans to retire but will serve as an advisor to the Board of Directors until calendar year end 2015. The Board has named Jonathan H. Chou, Kulicke & Soffa's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, to fill the role of interim Chief Executive Officer and it has formed a committee to conduct a search for a permanent successor among external and internal candidates.
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