From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 23-Dec-16
The stock market endured its second consecutive range-bound week, which ended with a small uptick ahead of the holiday weekend. The S&P 500 added 0.3% while the Nasdaq Composite (+0.5%) outperformed.
The quiet trading week was underscored by a modest batch of earnings reports and news that the Italian government will nationalize Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena as part of a EUR20 billion bank rescue plan that was approved at the end of the week. The euro spent the week in a narrow range, ending at 1.0450 against the dollar.
In earnings news, FedEx (FDX), General Mills (GIS), Finish Line (FINL), and Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) disappointed with their results and/or guidance while CarMax (KMX), Carnival (CCL), Nike (NKE), and Micron (MU) beat expectations.
Similar to stocks, Treasuries spent the week inside narrow ranges. The 10-yr note recorded a modest uptick after six consecutive weeks of losses, pressuring its yield to 2.54% from last week's 2.60%.
Thin trading conditions are likely to persist for at least one more week, considering markets will be closed on Monday, making for a short week ahead of the New Year.
Index Started Week Ended Week Change % Change YTD %
DJIA 19843.41 19933.81 90.40 0.5 14.4
Nasdaq 5437.16 5462.69 25.53 0.5 9.1
S&P 500 2258.07 2263.79 5.72 0.3 10.8
Russell 2000 1363.46 1369.81 6.35 0.5 20.6
4:05 pm Closing Market Summary: A Holiday Visit From Mr. Market (:WRAPX) :
'Twas two nights before Christmas, when all through the trading house,
Not a sentient creature was stirring about, no one clicking their mouse;
A few algorithms ran up and down,
But the day's action was decidedly rangebound;
Biotechnology lifted the health care sector (+0.8%) and energy (-0.2%) retreated despite an uptick in crude (+0.2%; $53.03/bbl),
But the S&P 500 (+0.1%) settled just above its flat line, because to do otherwise on this day would just be rude;
The daytraders were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of Dow 20,000 danced in their heads;
The industrial sector (+0.1%) eked out a slim gain,
Even though the President-elect took to Twitter again;
He took aim at the high cost of the F-35 fighter jet,
And his comments made some Lockheed Martin (LMT 249.54, -3.26) shareholders sweat;
Shares of LMT surrendered just over a percent, But that did not stop the industrial sector from registering a weekly ascent (+0.6%);
Credit Suisse (CS 14.85, -0.08) and Deutsche Bank (DB 18.63, +0.09) agreed to settle with a U.S. regulator,
But the financial sector (+0.1%) spent the entire day near its equator;
Just like stocks, the Treasury market was also range-bound,
Though the 10-yr note did pick up some ground (-1 bp to 2.54%);
A couple of datapoints crossed the wires today,
But neither New Home Sales (592,000; Briefing.com consensus 573,000) nor Michigan Sentiment (98.2; Briefing.com consensus 98.2) received much play;
Bond and equity markets will be closed on Monday,
Which should allow everyone to really enjoy the Christmas Sunday.
Of course other holidays will begin this weekend in parallel,
And with that in mind, the staff at Briefing.com would like to wish you all well.
Russell 2000 +20.6% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +14.4% YTD
S&P 500 +10.8% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +9.1% YTD
It was a quietsession for the equity markets ahead of the Christmas holiday and the samecould be said about technology stocks.
Stocks traded ina narrow range before breaking out late in the session.
The S&P 500 closed0.1% higher while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.28%. Semiconductorstocks (SMH) outperformed, closing 0.45% higher.
Synaptics (SYNA)fell 1.6% after OTR Global was cautious on the stock regarding whether it wouldbe in the next Samsung Galaxy Phone.
NVIDIA (NVDA+2.5%) hit a new all-time again today. Goldman added to the stock that is up ~-230%YTD to its Conviction Buy List earlier in the week. The leader in visual computing posted record sales (+54% to $2.0 billion), margins (non-GAAP grossmargin +110 basis points to 89.2%) and operating income (+130% to $708 mln)last month.
NVDA's GPUs are leading chips that enable machine learning --- a themethat will become increasingly important over time. The stock trades at 38x FY16EPS and 8.7x sales. NVDA is the best performing technology stock in the S&P500 YTD, followed by Applied Materials (AMAT +75%) and Micron (MU +65%).
Red Hat (RHT +3.3%)reclaimed the 70 level today after falling 14% yesterday following a disappointingearnings report. The company missed billings estimates due to some large dealsgetting pushed out. The stock trades at ~5x sales.
Electronicsretailer Best Buy (BBY) has plummeted that last three sessions as concerns havegrown about declining traffic across the retails sector.
