From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : The stock market ended the Thursday affair on a flat note with the S&P 500 slipping 0.2% ahead of tomorrow's release of the March Employment Situation Report (Briefing.com consensus 200k). Other contributing factors for today's decline included weakness from the oil pit and the underperformance of the heavyweight financial sector (-0.2%). The benchmark index (-0.2%) ended its day in-line with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.2%) and behind the Nasdaq Composite (UNCH).
The equity market began its day on a flat note as cautious trading overseas and indecision from the oil pit took center stage at the open. International bourses adopted a risk-off posture as they set their sights on tomorrow's influential Employment Situation Report for March. However, a rebound in crude oil and some early sector leadership from the heavily-weighted health care (-0.2%), technology (-0.2%), and financials (-0.2%) would lift the indices to their best levels of the day.
Nevertheless, the rebound in crude would not last as the energy component returned to its intraday low ($38.19/bbl) shortly before the conclusion of its pit session. As a result, WTI crude ended its day lower by 0.2% at $38.29/bbl while the broader market ended in the lower half of its trading range.
On the leaderboard, materials (-0.9%), industrials (-0.4%), consumer staples (-0.3%), and financials (-0.2%) trailed while utilities (+0.5%) and consumer discretionary (-0.1%) outperformed.
The commodity-sensitive materials space (-0.9%) ended its day on the bottom of the board after the release of the quarterly grain stockpile report from the USDA. The report showed that inventories of soybeans and wheat grew a respective 15.0% and 20.0% since last year. Agrochemical names such as Monsanto (MON 87.74, -3.35) and Mosaic (MOS 27.00, -1.12) ended their day with the steepest losses.
Life insurance names underperformed in the financial sector (-0.2%) as they pulled back from yesterday's rally that followed a favorable ruling for MetLife (MET 43.94, -0.79). On that note, the stock surrendered 1.8% after rallying 5.4% yesterday.
In the influential technology space (-0.2%), large cap names pulled back from their recent highs while the high-beta chipmakers underperformed. The PHLX Semiconductor ended its day lower by 0.6% as the sub-group fell in sympathy with Micron Technology (MU 10.47, -0.01). The chipmaker slid as much as 2.9% after guiding its third quarter earnings estimates below analysts' estimates. Conversely, tech heavyweight and Dow component IBM (IBM 151.45, +3.04) topped the price-weighted index.
Biotechnology outperformed throughout today's session as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 260.81, +5.87) extended its month to date gain to 1.6%. Conversely, weakness from drug manufactures Pfizer (PFE 29.64, -0.43) and Allergan (AGN 268.03, -6.91) weighed on the broader health care sector.
The U.S. Dollar Index (94.62, -0.22) ended off its low as the greenback regained some ground against the yen and the euro. The euro/dollar pair gained 0.4% and ended at 1.1383 after trading as high as 1.1411. Separately, the dollar gained 0.1% (112.56) against the yen.
The Treasury complex inched towards session highs throughout the afternoon with the yield on the 10-yr note ending its day lower by five basis point at 1.77%.
Today's participation was above the recent average as more than 974 million shares changed hands on the NYSE floor.
Today's data included weekly initial claims and the Chicago PMI for March:
Initial claims for the week ending March 26 rose by 11,000 to 276,000 (Briefing.com consensus 265,000).
Despite the headline increase, the series remains inside a 250,000-300,000 range that has been in effect since July 2014.
Including today's release, initial claims have now been below the 300,000 mark for 56 consecutive weeks.
There were no special factors influencing the report and the four-week moving average moved up by 3,000 to 263,250.
Continuing claims for the week ending March 19 were 2.173 million, down 7,000 from the upwardly revised prior week level of 2.180 million (from 2.179 million).
The four-week moving average for the series fell 14,500 to 2.191 million.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index registered a 53.6 reading for March, which was above the Briefing.com consensus estimate of 49.9 and well above the prior month reading of 47.6.
Today's reading lifted the index above 50, which is the demarcation line between contraction and expansion in activities.
Over the past seven months (including February), the index registered four contractionary readings, making today's report a welcome sight; however, the series will need to continue expanding in coming months in order to make a run at last year's highs.
The March improvement was driven by snapbacks in Production and Employment components of the report. The Production Index spiked to 53.7 from 44.0 while Employment surged to 52.8 from 45.2, reaching its highest level since April 2015.
Furthermore, New Orders (to 55.6 from 51.7) and Order Backlogs (to 49.7 from 45.3) also improved, underpinning the headline increase. Despite the improvements, Backlogs remained below 50 to continue a stretch that dates back to January 2015.
Tomorrow's economic data will include the 8:30 ET release of the Employment Situation Report for March (Briefing.com consensus 200k). Separately, the ISM Index for March (Briefing.com consensus 50.6), Construction Spending for February (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%), and the final reading of Michigan Consumer Sentiment (Briefing.com consensus 90.5) will each cross the wires at 10:00 ET.
Nasdaq Composite -2.8% YTD
Russell 2000 -1.9% YTD
S&P 500 +0.8% YTD
Dow Jones +1.5% YTD
DJ30 -31.57 NASDAQ +0.57 SP500 -4.19 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1400/1.571 bln/1447 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1668/974.9 mln/1353
3:30 pm :
The dollar rallied off its 5-month low in afternoon trading, putting pressure on commodities
Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity index, are down -0.2% at 78.83
Crude oil was volatile, trading briefly to a high of the day around $39.00/barrel before pulling back and closing nearly unchanged on the day
May crude oil futures closed down -0.2% at $38.29/barrel
Natural gas plummeted following EIA storage data that showed a draw of -25 bcf, compared to expectations for a draw of -23 bcf
In the middle of the trading day nat gas futures staged a rally, but still closed down -1.5% at $1.96/MMBtu
Gold was trending slightly downward all day, but managed to close higher
June gold futures closed up +0.7% at $1235.90/oz
Silver rallied in the afternoon before consolidating slightly lower, closing above yesterday's closing price
May silver futures closed up +1.8% at $15.48/oz
Copper staged a rally midday but still closed lower on the day
May copper futures closed down -0.5% at $2.18/lb
Tech Stocks from Briefing.com: Trading was back and forth toward the end of the session today, as a sell-off in the final five minutes of the session took indices lower. Action was heading for modest losses in the S&P and Dow, with modest gains in the Nasdaq but all three major indicated retreated to near lows of the day as the bell rang. Thus, action today ends Q1 trading as the first three months of 2016 have come to a close. This quarter, the Dow and S&P managed to eke out slight gains and the Nasdaq closed the three month action down about -2.8%. Trading today closed with the Nasdaq Composite managing gains of less than a point (+0.01%) to close 4869.85. The S&P 500 edged 4.21 points lower (-0.20%) to close 2059.74, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 31.57 points (-0.18%) to end Q1 17685.09.
Today's market data included the initial claims reading for the week ending March 26, which rose by 11,000 to 276,000. Also, the continuing claims report for the week ending March 19 was 2.173 million, down 7,000 from the last report. Additionally, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index registered a 53.6 reading for March, well above last month's reading of 47.6.
For the majority of the morning, the Technology (XLK 44.36, -0.09 -0.20%) sector was in the green. However, action turned to the red just before 1 p.m. ET and finished just shy of session lows. Component IBM (IBM 151.45, +3.04 +2.05%) displayed notable strength today on the back of the company's announcement this morning that the company plans to acquire Bluewolf Group. Other sectors closed the session XLU +0.59%, IYZ +0.07%, XLE -0.05%, XLY -0.11%, XLF -0.22%, XLI -0.23%, XLV -0.31%, XLP -0.52%, XLB -0.84% with Utilities managing to stay out of the red and Materials posting the most extreme losses.
When the bell rang, the S&P 500 Information Technology sector (737.12, -1.14 -0.15%) closed in the red as a sell-off in the final minutes of trading took away what would have been a finish in the green. Component Micron (MU 10.47, -0.01 -0.10%) displayed modest weakness following the company's mixed Q2 report and tepid Q3 EPS guidance. Other names in the space which displayed relative weakness included FLIR -2.46%, TXN -1.63%, QRVO -1.60%, AVGO -1.55%, MCHP -1.31%, VRSN -1.17%, PYPL -1.13%, INTC -1.10%.
Other notable news items among sector components:
Yahoo! (YHOO 36.81, +0.25 +0.68%) amended certain bylaws. An amendment was added to permit certain shareholders to nominate director nominees. Also, the amendments also held that any nominee submit a written questionnaire with respect to the background, qualifications, stock ownership and independence of the nominee, as well as representations regarding certain voting commitments or third party compensation arrangements.
IBM (IBM) announced plans to acquire Bluewolf Group. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Western Digital (WDC 47.24, +1.10 +2.38%) priced $1.875 billion of senior secured notes due 2023 and $3.35 billion of senior unsecured notes due 2024.
Fiserv (FISV 102.58, +0.50 +0.49%) and Bank of Ceylon expanded their relationship. The bank has also chosen Communicator from Fiserv to further streamline the integration between Signature and third-party solutions.
In a press release out overnight, the European Commission approved the acquisition of Xchanging by Computer Sciences (CSC 34.39, +0.36 +1.06%).
Elsewhere in the tech space:
FXCM (FXCM 10.74, -0.21 -1.92%) entered into a white label partnership with Halifax New Zealand to offer retail FX and CFD trading to customers throughout New Zealand.
In addition to reporting quarterly results, Progress Software (PRGS 24.12, -1.47 -5.74%) announced the planned retirement of CFO Chris Perkins. Additionally, the company's Board of Directors authorized a new $100 million share repurchase program, increasing the total authorization to $203 million.
TerraForm Power (TERP 8.65, +0.27 +3.22%) and TerraForm Global's (GLBL 2.38, +0.20 +9.17%) President and CEO Brian Wuebbels resigned effective immediately.
Zayo Group Holdings (ZAYO 24.24, -0.04 -0.16%) offered $350 million of its 6.375% senior notes due 2025 through an add-on to existing issue.
LRAD (LRAD 1.66, +0.01 +0.61%) received a $7.4 million contract award from the US Navy.
Points International (PCOM 8.71, +0.06 +0.69%) appointed Michael D'Amico as CFO.
In reaction to quarterly results:
Micron (MU) reported a better than expected Q2 loss per share of $0.05 on revenues which fell 29.6% versus last year to $2.93 billion yet were slightly worse than expected. Also, the company gave worse than expected Q3 EPS at a loss between ($0.12)-($0.05), with revenues in-line at $2.9-3.2 billion.
Sphere 3D (ANY 1.24, -0.05 -3.88%) reported a better than expected loss per share of $0.10 for the Q4 period. ANY also reported worse than expected revenues for the period which rose 99.3% versus last year to $18.87 million.
Progress Software (PRGS) reported worse than expected EPS and revenues for the Q1 period of $0.27 and $90.2 million, respectively. Management also guided Q2 EPS and revenues worse than expected at $0.26-0.29 and $93-96 million, respectively.
Analyst actions:
AMAT was upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at Exane BNP Paribas;
MU was downgraded to Mkt Perform at Bernstein and to Neutral at Macquarie,
RAX was downgraded to Sell from Underperform at Credit Agricole,
ASML was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Exane BNP Paribas;
KS was initiated with a Buy at Standpoint Research,
FSLR and SPWR were initiated with a Neutral at Mizuho,
EXPE and PCLN were initiated with a Sector Weight at Pacific Crest,
ADBE was initiated with a Buy at Canaccord Genuity,
MIFI was initiated with a Buy at Lake Street
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