From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Continued speculation about loan guarantees for Greece and Fed Chairman Bernanke's hint at a rate hike kept the dollar in focus this session. Its advance took stocks lower, save financials.
The Dollar Index spent the entire session in positive territory as newswires were filled with conflicting reports about whether Germany will lead a bailout for Greece and other European countries currently in need. Its strength grew as Fed Chairman Bernanke's prepared remarks about how the Fed may opt to raise the discount rate before long made the rounds. The greenback had been up as much as 0.7% against competing currencies, but eased back a bit to settle with a 0.4% gain.
The midsession pullback by the greenback helped the stock market recover from a loss of more than 1%. Financials also provided support -- the sector steadily outperformed for the entire session, such that it finished with a 0.8% gain. It was the only major sector to finish in higher ground, though.
Strength in the financial sector was broad as multiline insurers (+2.2%), diversified banks (+1.5%), and diversified financial services players (+1.2%) all logged handsome gains.
Despite leadership from financials, the broader market couldn't push through the headwind that stemmed from a stronger dollar. In turn, the stock market failed to extend the previous session's 1.3% gain. However, stocks are still up 0.2% week-to-date. Though that's relatively unimpressive, stocks haven't booked a weekly gain since the first week of January.
Hardly 1 billion shares exchanged hands this session on the NYSE, making for rather light volume. Many participants may continue to wait on the sidelines until something of substance comes out of the Greece debt dilemma.
Despite broader market weakness, Treasuries failed to find support as the benchmark 10-year Note shed roughly 11 ticks. Its yield pushed above 3.7% at its session low. Disappointing results for an auction of 10-year Notes were the primary cause. They featured a yield of 3.69%, an indirect bid of 33%, and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.67.
Looking ahead, participants will continue to focus on the dollar and any headlines regarding a bailout for Greece. Weekly jobless claims numbers, which are due tomorrow morning, also remain a point of interest for participants. Results for an auction of 30-year Bonds could also come into play.
Advancing Sectors: Financials (0.8%)
Declining Sectors: Materials (-0.7%), Utilities (-0.6%), Health Care (-0.6%), Energy (-0.5%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.5%), Telecom (-0.4%), Tech (-0.3%), Industrials (-0.3%), Consumer Staples (-0.2%)DJ30 -20.26 NASDAQ -3.00 NQ100 -0.2% R2K +0.1% SP400 -0.1% SP500 -2.39 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1281/2.03 bln/1310 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1500/1.01 bln/1497
4:50PM Sierra Wireless misses by $0.09, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs above consensus (SWIR) 11.76 +0.01 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.09 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.09 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.18; revenues rose 8.4% year/year to $144 mln vs the $144.7 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.11, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.15 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $150 mln vs. $140.89 mln consensus. "In January of 2010, we achieved another world first in launching the first ever 3G/4G mobile hot spot with Sprint. Achievements like this underscore our commitment to developing new, differentiated AirCard products supporting leading edge air interface technologies for our key operator partners. Looking forward, we have good visibility to Q1 revenue growth and believe we are uniquely positioned in our target markets with the industry's broadest product line, strongest global presence and unmatched innovation capability. Furthermore, we believe that our target markets of M2M and mobile computing present compelling growth opportunities and we are investing to bolster our leadership position."
4:09PM Bell Micro reports the SEC completed investigation and that no enforcement action has been recommended (BELM) 4.61 +0.07 : Co announced that it received notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission that the investigation concerning the company's accounting and financial reporting matters has been completed and that no enforcement action has been recommended.
8:04AM Trina Solar achieved "breakthrough" in its development of monocrystalline cell technology (TSL) 23.13 : Co announced it achieved a breakthrough in its development of monocrystalline cell technology. As part of the Company's ongoing research and development strategy, Trina Solar has developed a square monocrystalline cell with enhanced power output using its proprietary improved cell manufacturing process. Using specially designed metallization and passivation techniques, the advanced cell structure is expected to significantly boost cell conversion efficiency, achieving up to 18.8% efficiency in test laboratory production. In addition, this technology is expected to improve module output due to increased light absorbing surface area of the square shaped cell.
1:06AM Micron announces agreement to acquire Numonyx in all-stock transaction (MU) 9.08 : Co and Numonyx Holdings B.V. announce that the companies have signed a definitive agreement under which Micron has agreed to acquire privately held Numonyx in an all-stock transaction valuing Numonyx at approx $1.27 bln. Under the terms of the agreement, Micron will issue 140 mln Micron common shares to Numonyx shareholders, Intel (INTC), STMicroelectronics, N.V. (STM) and Francisco Partners. Up to 10 mln additional Micron common shares will be issued ratably to Numonyx shareholders to the extent the volume weighted average price of Micron shares for the 20 trading days, ending two days prior to the close of the transaction, ranges between $7.00 and $9.00 per share.
09:38 am Advanced Micro upgraded to Buy at Broadpoint AmTech Research; tgt raised to $10: . Broadpoint AmTech Research upgrades AMD to Buy from Neutral and raises their tgt to $10 from $5.80 as the recent positive events (Analyst Day/INTC settlement/capital structure) lead the firm to believe that AMD's risk/reward is now compelling. The firm notes that AMD's capital structure improved as a result of INTC's $1.25 bln settlement and yesterday's announcement of debt restructuring actions. The firm believes that AMD's debt of ~$3.7 bln will be reduced by ~25%, while also lowering interest expense slightly less, ~20%. Should Global Foundries and ATIC's chartered purchase be consolidated, the firm believes that they could see deconsolidation in the following 3-6 months. Furthermore, the firm feels that revenue growth in the coming quarters will prove to be stronger than the Street is modeling, driven by: a healthy Win7 cycle; leadership in the Evergreen GPU platform; more focused marketing; and possible tailwind from INTC settlement headlines entering the selling season.
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