4:25 pm : Tracking the major indices was a painstaking affair for most of the session as they followed summer form and traded in tight ranges. At the end of the day, though, the bulls were able to declare a victory in Tuesday's battle as the broader market squeaked out a modest gain.
General Electric (GE 39.29, +1.22) played a key role in the victory as it broke out to a 5-year high on more than twice its average daily volume. While we like GE's fundamental standing, the Dow component didn't share any specific news that would explain its positive showing. Accordingly, market observers were left to conclude that its strength was predicated on technical factors.
Whatever the reason, GE's mega-cap weighting helped lift the broader market; and it stood as a positive focal point that kept selling efforts in check.
The same can be said for the Treasury market which continued to recoup the losses it suffered that sent the yield on the 10-year note as high as 5.31% a week ago. Today the yield on the benchmark note hit 5.07%.
Setting aside those positive developments, there were some casualties in today's battle. Best Buy (BBY 45.18, -2.83) was the most prominent one following what can only be described as a disappointing second quarter earnings report.
The consumer electronics retailer fell 11 cents shy of the consensus EPS estimate of $0.50 and then issued guidance for the full year that was below the market's expectation.
Other fallen stocks included Leggett & Platt (LEG 22.08, -1.49) and Microchip Technology (MCHP 37.91, -3.74). Both companies issued disappointing guidance and paid the price as a result.
Yahoo! (YHOO 27.63, -0.49), meanwhile, was another notable laggard as investors expressed concerns about the company's competitive position following a management change that included the resignation of Terry Semel as CEO.
Led by GE and the airline stocks, the industrials sector (+0.97%) was the best-performing sector today. Conversely, consumer staples (-0.54%) was the worst-performing.
The May Housing Starts report came and went without causing much of a stir. The good news was that starts were down only 2.1% versus an expectation for a 3.5% decline. The bad news is that the data continue to point to a weak environment for starts. Separately, building permits increased 3.0% while the market was expecting a jump of 1.0%.
(Disclosure: Briefing.com has a business relationship with Yahoo!)DJ30 +22.44 NASDAQ +0.16 SP500 +2.65 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1398/1621/1.92 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1348/1923/1.43 bln
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