From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Equities finished today's quiet session near their highs and the S&P 500 gained 0.3%. Including today's advance, the S&P 500 is now less than 10 points away from its highest close of all-time.
The major averages began the day with slim losses. The cautious early trade followed downbeat overseas action where investors responded to disappointing industrial production news out of France and a series of below-consensus data points from China.
The Middle Kingdom reported hotter-than-expected February CPI while the country's industrial production and retail sales growth failed to meet expectations.
The disappointing global data contributed to a lower open in U.S. equities. However, the S&P 500 notched its session low 15 minutes into the day before climbing back into positive territory.
The benchmark index then continued higher as financials, health care, and materials, paced the advance.
The financial sector saw considerable strength from large components. Citigroup (C 47.60, +0.92) was the top performer among the majors while the broader SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 18.38, +0.14) gained 0.8%.
Stocks in the materials space also contributed to today's gains. Chemical producers supported the cyclical space and the SPDR Materials Select Sector ETF (XLB 39.81, +0.22) added 0.6%.
Although two growth-oriented sectors led the broader market, the defensive-minded health care stocks also finished among the leaders. Drug makers were some of the strongest components and Merck (MRK 43.66, +0.69) advanced 1.6%.
While the three sectors led the way for the bulk of the session, technology stocks saw some volatility. The tech sector underperformed into the afternoon until Apple (AAPL 437.87, +6.15) spiked to fresh highs on no apparent news. The largest tech stock settled higher by 1.4% after being down as much as 1.5% intraday.
Elsewhere in tech, Dell (DELL 14.37, +0.21) and Icahn Enterprises (IEP 61.20, +0.40) entered into a confidentiality agreement which will give Carl Icahn insight into Dell's books.
On the earnings front, Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS 45.11, -5.49) fell 10.9% after its earnings and revenue fell short of the Capital IQ consensus. Additionally, guidance issued by the company was also below analyst expectations. Investors will gain further insight into recent retail sales when the February retail sales report is released on Wednesday at 8:30 ET.
Today's volume was well below average as 599 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Today's activity-or lack thereof-put the final tally more than 20% below its 50-day moving average.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 11.78, -0.81) slid below 12.00, and ended at levels not seen since early 2007. With the S&P 500 eyeing fresh all-time highs, the steady decline in VIX suggests complacency is on the rise.
Reviewing S&P 500 sector performance, financials (+0.8%), health care (+0.5%), and materials (+0.4%) led the way. Meanwhile, telecom (-0.2%), energy (UNCH), and consumer staples (+0.1%) rounded out the bottom of the rankings.
Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to the February U.S. Budget with the report set to cross the wires at 14:00 ET. Among earnings of note, Costco (COST 102.44, -0.60) is scheduled to report its quarterly results ahead of the opening bell.DJ30 +50.22 NASDAQ +8.51 SP500 +5.04 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1259/1.59 bln/1192 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1603/599.0/1380
3:30 pm :
Apr crude oil lifted off its session low of $90.89 per barrel set in morning floor action and trended higher for the remainder of its session as the dollar index faded to the unchanged line. The energy component picked up momentum heading into the close and settled with a 0.2% gain at $92.06 per barrel.
Apr natural gas trended higher after lifting off its session low of $3.59 per MMBtu set moments after pit trade opened. It broke into the black in late morning action and eventually settled 0.6% higher at $3.65 per MMBtu.
Apr gold pushed into positive territory and to a session high of $1581.20 per ounce in early morning floor trade. It spent the remainder of the session chopping around just above the unchanged line as the dollar index weakened. The yellow metal eventually settled 0.2% higher at $1577.60 per ounce.
May silver spent its entire floor session in negative territory, trading as low as $28.70 per ounce moments after pit trade opened. It settled 0.4% lower at $28.86 per ounce, just below its session high of $28.90 per ounce.
SEACOM has selected Ciena's (CIEN) 6500 Packet-Optical Platform and OneControl Unified Management System for the upgrade of its submarine network across the Southern and Eastern African coastlines.
QLogic (QLGC) announced that its 2600 Series 16Gb Fibre Channel adapters are now available through the EMC Select program for a broad range of EMC storage platforms.
STMicroelectronics (STM) announced that Didier Lamouche, Chief Operating Officer, whose operational role was suspended when he took the assignment as President and Chief Executive Officer at ST-Ericsson in December 2011, has decided to resign from the company effective March 31, 2013 to pursue other opportunities.
10:36 am S&P Information Technology Sector trading lower by -0.55%
The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness as well with the SOX trading 0.7% lower. Within the chip index, WFR (-2.5%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% lower today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.3% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, FB (+2.4%) is showing notable strength, while INTC (-1.4%) is under pressure.
In tech earnings this morning, RENN (-2.6%) posted an inline qtr and guided below consensus. In news, Icahn entered into a confidentiality agreement with DELL (+1.0%). T (-0.4%) confirmed it will launch BBRY (+5.7%) Z10 March 22 For $199.99. ST-Ericsson, a joint venture of STM (-1.5%) and ERIC (+1.2%), announced that Didier Lamouche, president and chief executive officer, has decided to resign from the Company to pursue other opportunities. Among rumors, Bloomberg discussed that CPWR (+0.7%) may be a possible takeover target. Also, we are hearing renewed LNVGY (-3.7%)-for-BBRY (+5.7%) rumor making the rounds. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, ROVI (+0.5%) was upgraded to Overweight at Piper and NXPI (+0.2%) was upgraded to Positive at Susquehanna. Among downgrades, NVDA (-1.4%) was downgraded to Negative at Susquehanna, ADBE (-1.1%) and INTU (-2.1%) were downgraded to Neutral at BofA/Merrill, MANH (-1.8%) was downgraded to Mkt Perform at Raymond James, ALTR (-1.1%) was downgraded to Neutral at UBS, DANG (-2.9%) was downgraded to Neutral at Piper and AAPL (-1.3%) was downgraded to Outperform at Credit Agricole. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.
Veeco (VECO) announced that it received a letter from The NASDAQ Stock Market on March 5, 2013 notifying the Company that it is not in compliance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5250 because its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 was not filed on a timely basis with the SEC.
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