From Briefing.com: 4:25 pm : Sellers sent stocks from a positive start to a sizable loss by midsession, but their efforts eased in the afternoon so that the major averages ended the day with varied results.
Market participants initially appeared prepared to extend the prior session's advance amid renewed strength among overseas markets, but an absence of leadership made for untenable gains in the early going. Once selling started it quickly gained momentum.
Natural resource plays were picked on the most, for a time. The materials sector was down as much as 1.9% as Mosaic (MOS 75.00, -1.25) slid ahead of its earnings announcement this evening. Meanwhile, the energy sector was down 1.5% at its session low. The two sectors successfully trimmed those losses so that they ended the day down 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
As an asset class, small-cap stocks and mid-cap stocks were also hit hard, but they never really recovered. In turn, the Russell 2000 settled the day down 1.6% while the S&P 400 closed with a 1.1% loss.
Telecom stocks traded with relative strength for virtually the entire session. They gained 0.9%, collectively. Motorola shares officially broke into a consumer segment, Motorola Mobility (MMI 33.12, +2.88), and a professional segment, Motorola Solutions (MSI 39.77, +2.46), both of which debuted on the NYSE today. A few analysts gave MMI favorable reviews, but the interest in MSI was more tepid.
Automakers encountered mixed interest. For December, Ford (F 17.38, +0.13) reported that retail sales increased 17% from the prior year. General Motors (GM 37.90, +0.84) said that it saw total December sales climb 16% from the year before. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor (TM 79.86, +0.43) reported that its sales for December actually decreased by 2% year over year. Honda Motor (HMC 39.60, -0.42) said that its vehicle sales for December saw an increase of almost 26%. Nissan Motor (NSANY 19.76, +0.61) reported a 28% increase in U.S. sales during December.
Participants made no real reaction to news that factory orders for November increased 0.7% when a 0.3% decline had been widely expected to follow a 0.7% slide in the prior month.
Minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting were also shrugged off. The minutes indicate that some committee members are still concerned about downside risk, especially as it relates to housing, but that economic activity continues to increase at a moderate rate. Still, voting members view the progress toward fulfilling the Fed's dual mandate as disappointingly slow.
The dollar made a nice move out of the red for a 0.3% gain. This is the second straight day that the greenback has advanced against a collection of competing currencies following seven straight sessions of losses.
Advancing Sectors: Telecom (+0.9%), Utilities (+0.5%), Health Care (+0.4%), Tech (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Energy (-0.6%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.6%), Materials (-0.5%), Consumer Staples (-0.4%), Financials (-0.2%), Industrials (-0.1%)DJ30 +20.43 NASDAQ -10.27 NQ100 -0.1% R2K -1.6% SP400 -1.1% SP500 -1.67 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 844/2.02 bln/1805 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1103/1.09 bln/1889
4:18PM Mattson provides preliminary Q4 results (MTSN) 2.56 -0.31 : Co sees Q4 rev of ~$41 mln vs $49.08 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co's fourth quarter guidance, established October 20, 2010, was $46-50 mln. Co's lowered guidance is due to a delay in the shipment of several tools scheduled for DRAM customersl.
4:09PM CalAmp to provide mobile data communications equipment for the State of Oregon Wireless Interoperability Network (CAMP) 2.93 -0.17 : Co announced its alliance partner, Harris Corporation (HRS), has been selected by the State of Oregon as the radio system and service provider for the Oregon Wireless Interoperability Network (OWIN). As a member of the project implementation team, CalAmp will provide its Dataradio base stations and mobile radios for the wireless data portion of this multi-phased project.
4:01PM Trident Microsystems lowers Q4 rev, operating income guidance due to order pushouts, cancelations and slower than expected ramp of set-top box products (TRID) 1.91 +0.01 : Co lowers Q4 rev and operating income guidance; co sees non-GAAP operating loss of $18-22 mln vs. a loss of $4-8 mln previously, may not compare to -$7.3 mln single est; co lowers Q4 rev guidance to $115-120 mln from $130-140 mln vs $135.00 mln single est. The revenue shortfall is primarily attributable to order push-outs and cancellations from TV customers in the seasonally weak fourth quarter as well as slower than expected program ramp-up and a weaker retail segment for the co's set-top box products. The co currently expects the factors that negatively impacted Q4 revs will be even more pronounced in the seasonally weak Q1 ending Mar. 31, 2011.
MIPS Technologies (MIPS) announced today that Ingenic Semiconductor has licensed the MIPS32 architecture for its mobile device SoCs. Ingenic is leveraging the MIPS architecture for devices targeting a broad range of mobile products including e-readers, tablets and smartphones leveraging the Android platform.
8:34AM Motorola Solutions confirms completion of separation, begins trading as MSI on NYSE (MSI) : MSI, formerly Motorola, confirmed completion the previously announced separation of Motorola Mobility Holdings. Motorola Solutions shares begin trading today on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "MSI."
Cabot Microelectronics (CCMP) announced that it has broken ground on the construction of its planned South Korea manufacturing and research and development center. The center is expected to be completed by the end of calendar 2011, at a cost of ~$12 mln.
# Micron Technology (MU) unveiled a new portfolio of the industry's most advanced RealSSDTM solid-state drives for the fast growing flash-based notebook market.
# AMD (AMD) introduced a series of new products and services at the Consumer Electronics Show including AMD's fastest quad-core desktop processor its next generation mobile graphics technology, the AMD Radeon HD 6000M series.
# Dolby Laboratories (DLB) unveiled an entirely new suite of audio technologies as part of the fourth generation of the Dolby PC Entertainment Experience program.
# HP (HPQ) unveiled new business desktop PCs, thin clients and monitors that deliver performance and value, helping small businesses and large enterprise customers improve productivity and reduce the environmental impact of their technology.
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