From Briefing.com: 4:06 pm Agilent acquires 48% interest ownership in Lasergen for $80 mln; prior guidance unchanged (A) :
Co invests $80 million in Lasergen, an emerging biotechnology company with next-gen sequencing technology.
With this investment, Agilent will acquire a 48% ownership stake in privately held Lasergen and will join the board. Agilent has the option to acquire the remaining shares of Lasergen until March 2, 2018, for an additional consideration of $105 mln. The two companies will collaborate on building a next-generation sequencing solutions workflow for clinical applications, based on Lasergen's Lightning Terminators sequencing chemistry. The investment will result in $0.02-$0.03 EPS dilution impact on both FY16 and FY17. However, Agilent's overall company-level guidance communicated on Feb. 16 remains unchanged. Agilent's management will present more details about this transaction on a conference call with investors today at 2 p.m. PT.
The broader market closed Monday split, as the Nasdaq Composite was the laggard. Leading the session higher, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 67.18 points (+0.40%) to close 17073.95, helped by crude oil which finished +5.5% today. The S&P 500 also finished in the green, advancing 1.77 points (+0.09%) to 2001.76. Rounding out the bunch, the Nasdaq Composite was pressured on the session as large-cap tech names held the index down; to that end, the Nasdaq lost 8.77 points today (-0.19%) to close 4708.25. In all, it was an up and down day as stocks initially rallied off morning lows to enjoy some time in the green. Gains were short-lived, though, as all three major US indices turned negative around 1 p.m. ET. The final two hours of trading were also volatile, as around 3 p.m. ET, indices rallied slightly off lows of the session and finished split.
Ahead of today's session futures followed European bourses lower as both markets looked to consolidate from their recent rallies. To that point, the benchmark index has rallied 10.7% off its February 11 low (1810.10) while the Euro Stoxx 50 Index has climbed 12.7% over that same period. In addition to the general consolidation, equity markets reacted to the National People's Congress in China softening its target GDP growth for 2016 (6.5% to 7.0%; 2015: 7.0%).
In the Technology (XLK 42.16, -0.26 -0.61%) sector, trading ended in the red, as action never got above flat lines. Component Apple's (AAPL 101.87, -1.14 -1.11%) target was lowered to $127 from $132 at Pacific Crest as they noted supply and demand appear stable, but more consistent with results at the low end of guidance. Other sectors closed the session XLE +2.35%, XLB +1.15%, XLV +0.80%, IYZ +0.76%, XLU +0.55%, XLI +0.30%, XLF -0.04%, XLY -0.43%, XLP -0.61% with Tech and Consumer Staples leading the decline.
By comparison, Internet (FDN 67.14, -0.74 -1.09%) names were mostly weaker today as component Netflix (NFLX 95.49, -6.09 -6.00%) was pressured by cautious commentary from ITG Research regarding domestic streaming estimates. Other FDN names which finished lower today included VHC -3.83%, LNKD -3.75%, EQIX -3.32%, EXPE -2.89%, FB -2.45%, GOOGL -2.39%, JCOM -2.36%, AMZN -2.15%.
In the S&P 500 Information Technology sector (694.55, -5.13 -0.73%), trading crept safely below flat lines for the entirety of the session as large cap names held the sector down. Component Micron (MU 11.58, -0.30 -2.53%) was downgraded to Reduce from Neutral at Nomura before the market opened. Other components finished the day MSFT -1.92%, V -2.65%, MA -1.94%, ACN -0.76%, AVGO -1.75%, PYPL -0.15%.
Other notable news items among sector components:
Logitech (LOGI 16.56, +0.36 +2.22%) announced the Logitech ConferenceCam Kit with Intel (INTC 30.94, +0.31 +1.01%) NUC video conferencing system.
Xerox (XRX 10.42, -0.08 -0.76%) closed a $1 billion senior unsecured term loan, to be drawn by April 1, 2016.
Elsewhere in the tech sector :
ComScore (SCOR 27.04, -13.67 -33.58%) filed to further delay its form 10-K. The company postponed the previously-announced investor day pending the completion of an internal review. In addition, SCOR suspended the company's share repurchase program.
Brooks Automation (BRKS 10.22, +0.30 +3.02%) announced a restructuring plan through which the company expects to achieve $15 million in annualized cost savings. In addition, BRKS announced COO Mark Morelli will be leaving as of March 31.
Lattice Semi's (LSCC 5.85, +0.06 +1.04%) CFO Joe Bedewi to leave the company.
NXP Semi (NXPI 76.98, +0.35 +0.46%) filed an ordinary share shelf offering for an undisclosed amount.
Advanced Semi (ASX 5.70, -0.16 -2.81%) reported February revenues declined 7.0% YoY to NT$17.7 billion (down 16.7% sequentially).
Gogo (GOGO 11.75, -0.49 -4.00%) and Intelsat (I 2.30, +0.31 +15.58%) partnered to leverage the first shared GEO/LEO satellite network for in-flight connectivity.
NCR (NCR 25.78, +1.10 +4.46%) announced a $250 million share repurchase and increased its 2016 full year EPS guidance to $2.85-2.95, up from its previous guidance of $2.72-2.82.
Analyst actions:
CCOEY was upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies;
RMBS was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Sidoti,
MU was downgraded to Reduce from Neutral at Nomura,
SSYS was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan,
QLYS was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Wunderlich
4:10 pm : The major averages began their week on a flat note as an oil rally was unable to bolster the broader market through the closing bell. Contributing factors to today's trade included a consolidation from the recent three-week winning streak, the underperformance of the heavyweight technology (-0.7%) and consumer discretionary (-0.5%) spaces, and anxiety regarding upcoming central bank policy meetings. The Nasdaq Composite (-0.2%) ended its day behind S&P 500 (+0.1) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.4%).
The benchmark index was unable to maintain the bulk of its advance despite a sustained rally in energy (+2.4%) and crude oil. The energy component surged 5.5% to $37.90/bbl, continuing its recent winning streak. On that note, WTI crude has jumped 45.5% from its 52-week low of $26.05/bbl on February 11.
The materials sector (+1.2%) was a distant second while countercyclical health care (+0.8%), telecom services (+0.7%), and utilities (+0.6%) followed. Conversely, heavily-weighted technology (-0.7%) and consumer discretionary (-0.5%) rounded out the leaderboard.
Commodity-sensitive materials received a boost from an overnight surge in iron ore, but also outperformed thanks to large cap DuPont (DD 64.71, +1.53). The company climbed 2.4% on news that BASF (BASFY 69.95, +0.66) is considering a counter bid for DuPont during its pending merger with Dow Chemical (DOW 49.76, -0.53).
In the technology sector, large-cap components underperformed with Facebook (FB 105.73, -2.66) and Alphabet (GOOGL 712.80, -17.42) diving 2.4% apiece. Meanwhile, the PHLX Semiconductor Index demonstrated relative strength as it ticked higher by 0.3%. The relative strength came despite noticeable weakness from constituents Micron Technology (MU 11.58, -0.30) and Broadcom (AVGO 143.51, -2.55) which surrendered 2.5% and 1.8%, respectively.
Meanwhile, large names also suffered in the consumer discretionary space (-0.5%). To that point, Amazon (AMZN 562.80, -12.34) and Nike (NKE 59.25, -2.01) plunged a respective 2.2% and 3.3%. Separately, influential Netflix (NFLX 95.49, -6.09) plunged 6.0% after ITG Research cast doubt on the company's domestic streaming estimates.
On the central bank front, slightly diverging opinions between Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer and Fed Governor Lael Brainard cast some light on next week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Mr. Fischer contended that inflation is showing signs of acceleration in the U.S. while Ms. Brainard cautioned patience for raising rates in light of tightening financial conditions and softer inflation expectations.
The U.S. Dollar Index (97.10, -0.24) fell today as the euro and the yen gained some steam against dollar. The euro/dollar pair trades higher by 0.1% at 1.1014 while the dollar/yen pair slipped 0.3% to 113.41, but ended off its high (113.73).
Trading volume fell roughly in-line with the recent average as more than 1.10 billion shares changed hands on the NYSE floor.
Treasuries hit their lows during the height of the rally in equities and ended their day near those levels. The yield on the 10-yr note ended higher by three basis points at 1.91%.
Today's economic data included the January Consumer Credit report:
Total outstanding consumer credit increased by $10.5 billion in January. That was below the Briefing.com consensus estimate, which called for growth of $16.5 billion, but up from December when total outstanding consumer credit, which can be prone to sizable revisions, increased by a downwardly revised $6.4 billion (from $21.3 billion).
Total outstanding consumer credit of $3.54 trillion increased at an annual rate of 3.6% in January.
The growth in January was led by a pickup in nonrevolving credit, which increased by $11.6 billion. Revolving credit actually contracted by $1.1 billion.
In the preceding 12-month period leading up to January, consumer credit had risen by an average of $18.0 billion.
There is no economic data of note on tap for tomorrow.
Nasdaq Composite -6.0% YTD
Russell 2000 -3.9% YTD
S&P 500 -2.1% YTD
Dow Jones -2.0% YTD
DJ30 +67.18 NASDAQ -8.77 SP500 +1.77 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2015/1.917 bln/963 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2014/1.105 bln/1020
3:35 pm :
The dollar index continued to slide lower today, which helped give as boost to select commodities such as energy futures
Apr crude oil ended the day +5.5% at $37.90/barrel
Natural gas perked up today, rising +1.8% to $1.69/MMBtu (Apr contract)
Metals were another story. Despite the sell off in the dollar index, Apr gold closed -0.5% at $1264.00/oz, while May silver lost -0.3% at $15.64/oz
May copper finished the day flat at $2.28/lb
Notable energy-sector gainers along with short-interest are listed below.
LNCO +95% at 1.47 (short interest 5.6% of float)
LINE +78% at 1.77 (short interest 5.6% of float)
SDOC +74.2% at 0.11 (short interest 12.0% of float),
BCEI +31.6% at 2.79 (short interest 32.4% of float),
SGY +22.3% at 3.13 (short interest 19.7% of float),
HERO +16.0% at 2.32 (short interest 0.7% of float),
CRC +13.1% at 1.99 (short interest 14.2% of float),
EMES +11.6% at 5.67 (short interest 13.1% of float),
CJES +11.6% at 1.93 (short interest 50.8% of float),
UNT +10.8% at 11.49 (short interest 13.1% of float),
BTU +10.6% at 3.75 (short interest 42.7% of float),
PAGP +10.2% at 8.44 (short interest 1.9% of float),
SDLP +9.6% at 3.88 (short interest 1.7% of float),
SN +9.5% at 5.44 (short interest 19.4% of float),
WTI +9.4% at 3.14 (short interest 39% of float),
CEQP +9.4% at 8.85 (short interest 6.9% of float),
WLL +8.0% at 7.66 (short interest 19.9% of float),
EVEP +7.9% at 2.61 (short interest 4.7% of float),
LEI +7.2% at 4.17 (short interest 19.0% of float).
In corporate news of note, Marvell (MRVL 10.15, +0.40) has jumped 4.1% after the NY Post reported that the company would be open to a sale.
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