From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : The S&P 500 ended lower by 0.4% to snap its streak of eight consecutive gains. Today's decline marked only the third time this month where the S&P registered a loss, and first with a decline of more than one point.
Heavily-weighted sectors, including financials and health care, pressured the broader market despite better-than-expected quarterly results from Goldman Sachs (GS 160.24, -2.76) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 90.40, 0.00). In addition, market participants appeared cautious ahead of tomorrow's testimony by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke in front of the House Financial Services Committee. Mr. Bernanke's prepared remarks are set to be released at 8:30 ET and the testimony is scheduled to begin at 10:00 ET.
Cyclical sectors underperformed with energy and materials leading to the downside. The energy space shed 0.6% while crude oil slipped 0.5% to $105.78 per barrel. In addition, cautious second quarter guidance issued by Marathon Petroleum (MPC 69.93, -3.17) weighed on the sector.
Although producers of basic materials trailed behind the broader market (-0.8%), most of the weakness was contained to chemical producers after Mosaic (MOS 54.12, -2.01) reported in-line results but disappointed on potash pricing. Meanwhile, steelmakers and gold miners displayed relative strength with the Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 39.74, +0.31) and Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 25.65, +1.36) rising 0.8% and 5.6%, respectively. On a related note, gold futures climbed 0.6% to $1291.60 per troy ounce.
Elsewhere, discretionary shares suffered from broad weakness as homebuilders and retailers lagged. The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 22.97, -0.14) jumped after the July NAHB Housing Market Index surpassed expectations (57 actual, 51 expected), but surrendered its gains shortly thereafter. With regard to retailers, the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 80.66, -0.56) slumped 0.7%. While most cyclical groups ended firmly in the red, the technology sector continued its recent outperformance amid general strength. The group ended little changed and held its July gain of 5.1%.
Defensively-oriented sectors finished in mixed fashion. Telecom services outperformed with a gain of 0.6% while health care and utilities each lost 0.5%. For its part, the consumer staples sector ended in-line with the broader market. Sector component Coca-Cola (KO 40.23, -0.78) shed 1.9% after missing on revenue.
Treasuries were confined to a narrow range, and the benchmark 10-yr yield ended lower by two and a half basis point at 2.532%.
June consumer prices rose 0.5%, which was above the 0.3% uptick that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. This followed the prior month's increase of 0.1%. The jump in prices was mostly a result of a 6.3% increase in the gasoline index. In addition, core prices rose 0.2%, in line with the Briefing.com consensus.
Industrial production increased 0.3% in June, which was in-line with the consensus estimate. That followed on the heels of an unchanged reading for May and was driven by a 0.3% increase in manufacturing production and a 0.8% jump in the output at mines. The output of utilities decreased 0.1%.
Lastly, the May net long-term TIC flows report indicated a $27.2 billion outflow of foreign capital from U.S. denominated assets. This followed the prior month's $37.3 billion outflow.
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while June housing starts and building permits will be announced at 8:30 ET. At 14:00 ET, the Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book for July. On the earnings front, Abbott Labs (ABT 35.70, +0.22) and Bank of America (BAC 13.92, +0.04) will report their quarterly results before the opening bell.DJ30 -32.41 NASDAQ -8.99 SP500 -6.24 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1107/1.52 bln/1360 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1046/617.1 mln/1944
3:35 pm :
Aug crude oil slipped into the red after trading as high as $106.90 per barrel in early morning action. Unable to regain momentum, it settled 0.3% lower at $106.00 per barrel
Aug natural gas lifted from its session low of $3.61 per MMBtu set moments after pit trade opened and touched a session high of $3.71 per MMBtu. It eventually settled with a 0.3% gain at $3.68 per MMBtu
Precious metals traded higher today, gaining support from a weaker dollar index
Aug gold advanced to a session high of $1294.70 per ounce and settled at $1290.10 per ounce, or 0.5% higher
Sep silver spent afternoon pit action trading in a consolidative pattern near the $19.93 per ounce level. It then settled with a 0.5% gain at $19.94 per ounce
9:47AM Semiconductor Hldrs ETF displaying relative strength, notches new session high (SMH) 39.46 +0.20 : MU +1.8%, XLNX +1.3%, AMAT +1.1%, INTC +1%, AMKR +0.8%, KLAC +0.8%, BRCM +0.8%, AMD +0.8%, NVDA +0.7%, LLTC +0.6%.
5:20AM ReneSola raises Q2 revs, shipments and GM guidance (SOL) 2.89 : Co provides updates to its second quarter and full year 2013 outlook.
Q2
The Co estimates its total solar wafer and module shipments to be in the range of 760-770 MW, compared to its previously guided range of 700-720 MW.
The Co estimates its solar module shipments to be in the range of 450-460 MW, compared to its previously guided range of 400 MW to 420 MW.
The Co estimates its revenues to be in the range of $365-375 million vs $316.9 mln CIQ est and above to its previously guided range of $310-330 million.
The Co estimates its gross margin to be in the range of 5-6%, compared to its previously guided range of 3-5%.
FY13
The Co estimates its total solar wafer and module shipments to be in the range of 2.8-3.0 GW, compared to its previously guided range of 2.7-2.9 GW.
The Co estimates its solar module shipments to be in the range of 1.6-1.8 GW, compared to its previously guided range of 1.4 -1.6 GW.
Riverbed Technology (RVBD) introduced a new release of its groundbreaking Riverbed? Granite product family that delivers an enterprise-class solution for server and data consolidation. With expanded capacity and higher performance IT managers can now extend the benefits of Granite to larger branch offices and data-intensive applications that previously were difficult or impossible to consolidate
NQ Mobile (NQ) provided preliminary Q2 2013 revenue guidance, above the the company's prior guidance. The co now estimates that its overall revenues for Q2 2013 will exceed $40 million. The company will provide final second quarter 2013 results during its regularly scheduled earnings conference in mid-August. Also, the co announces that it has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire the remaining 45% stake in its subsidiary, Beijing NationSky Network Technology, and fully consolidate the two businesses. This transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings in Q3 2013 as both the revenue growth and profitability trends of NationSky are exceeding the co's original targets. The total cash and stock consideration for the NationSky purchase is valued at $25.2 million. The consideration includes $11 million in cash and $14.2 million in the co's Class A common shares. There will be additional performance-based consideration provided that certain profitability targets are met over the next 18 months. "Our businesses are performing extremely well. With our updated second quarter 2013 revenue outlook, it is clear that our strategy to monetize our growing user base is taking hold. Our excitement is only increasing as we look towards the future of our business," said Co-CEO, Omar Khan. "The purchase of the remaining 45 percent of NationSky is also an exciting development. NationSky is well positioned to leverage the explosive global growth in enterprise mobility solutions. The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trends within the enterprise are blending the individual consumer's desires with the demands of the enterprise environment. By fully integrating our business with that of NationSky, NQ Mobile is uniquely positioned as a global mobility solutions and services provider."
Emulex (ELX) announced that its board of directors has unanimously approved a leadership succession that will ensure a seamless transition and continued strong leadership at Emulex. As part of this, Jeffrey W. Benck, Emulex's current president and chief operating officer (COO), has been appointed president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Emulex and a member of the board of directors, effective immediately. James M. McCluney, who has served as Emulex's CEO since 2006, has been named executive chairman of the board, also effective immediately. Paul Folino will step down from his role as chairman and will continue as a director. Mr. Benck joined Emulex in 2008 as COO, and was promoted to president in 2010. "Preliminary results for the fourth quarter include total net revenues of $119 to $120 million, (which was in line estimates), which is at the midpoint of our May guidance of $118 to $122 million. Preliminary estimated Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for the quarter are also expected to be in line with our May guidance of $0.11 to $0.13 per share (also in line with estimates)"
Liquidity Services (LQDT) issued guidance for the third quarter with EPS of $0.43-0.45, excluding non-recurring items, which is below consensus. Liquidity Services expects to report Gross Merchandise Volume of $228 million to $231 million, which is lower than the Company's previous expectations of $250 million to $275 million. Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes stock based compensation and acquisition costs, is expected to be $26 million to $27 million compared to the Company's previous expectations of $29 million to $32 million.As a result of the lower than expected third quarter results, the Company expects to lower its fiscal year 2013 guidance for GMV, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS. The updated guidance will be provided on the earnings call on August 7, 2013. Results were impacted by lower than expected GMV in the Company's capital assets and retail supply chain verticals as a result of lower product flows from existing clients and slower than expected rollout of new client programs. "While our preliminary GMV results for Q3-FY13 and the impact on our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS results were disappointing and below our expectations, our emphasis has been on profitable growth and we have made good progress with the integration of our GoIndustry acquisition, which is now operating at near breakeven. Overall margins in our business remain strong; we expect to report that adjusted EBITDA margins increased to ~11.5% in the third quarter from 11.3% in the second quarter primarily as a result of sharper focus and streamlined operations. The lower than expected top line results during the quarter were driven by delays in new programs, weaker volumes in the consumer electronics sector and the continued repositioning of the GoIndustry marketplace to focus on the key global Fortune 1000 relationships that we expect will drive sustained profitable growth in this business."
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