From Briefing.com: 4:25 pm : The major averages finished the Tuesday session near their lows with the Russell 2000 (-1.0%) leading the slide. The S&P 500 lost 0.5% with nine sectors ending in the red.
Equities indices started the day with modest gains and spent the first two hours of action in the neighborhood of their flat lines. Although the early trade lacked clear sector leadership, that could have been overlooked due to the strength among heavily-weighted sectors like health care (-0.3%), technology (-0.2%), and consumer staples (unch). The relative strength of the three groups kept the market afloat in the early going considering they account for nearly 42.0% of the entire S&P 500.
However, another influential sector-financials (-0.7%)-was a bit more reluctant and never pulled away from its flat line. Fittingly, the group was among the first to show weakness when the broader market slipped into the red.
Interestingly, the first wave of selling among financials coincided with a notable drop in copper futures, which have been pressured recently amid worries regarding the health of China's corporate sector. Today, the red metal fell 2.8% to $2.947/lb, a level last seen in mid-2010. Furthermore, the base metal extended its March decline to 7.5%. Considering copper's importance to global industry, significant weakness in the price of the metal can be seen as a cautious signal regarding the overall health of the global economy. Similarly, the financial sector is also viewed as a vital factor in global growth.
Although financials lagged, today's retreat came after the sector led last week's advance. Despite today's loss, the sector remains higher by 1.4% so far this year versus a 1.0% gain for the S&P 500. Top sector components with global exposure, however, have not seen comparable gains. Goldman Sachs (GS 169.89, -3.62) lost 2.1% today, widening its year-to-date decline to 3.4% while JPMorgan Chase (JPM 58.19, -1.01) slumped 1.7%, ending the session with a 0.5% loss so far in 2014.
Commodity-linked energy (-1.2%) and materials (-1.0%) also contributed to the slide while crude oil lost 1.1%, ending at $99.99/bbl.
Also of note, the huge intraday reversal in the fuel cell stocks today was another focal point that may have encouraged investors to take some money off the table. Plug Power (PLUG 6.92, -3.39), Fuel Cell (FCEL 3.28, -0.65), and Ballard Power (BLDP 5.10, -1.78), for instance, ended down 48.6%, 30.8%, and 39.1%, respectively, from today's high. A caustic report on Plug Power out of Citron Research contributed to the sharp reversal.
Treasuries held modest intraday losses, but jumped to highs as the market slid into the red. The benchmark 10-yr yield ended lower by two basis points at 2.76%.
Today's selling pressure contributed to demand for volatility protection, sending the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 14.81, +0.61) higher by 4.3%.
Participation was below average with 630 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Today's economic data was limited to the Wholesale Inventories report:
Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% in January after increasing an upwardly revised 0.4% (from 0.3%) in December. The Briefing.com consensus pegged inventory growth at 0.4%. Inventory growth in the durables sector slowed, increasing 0.4% in January after a 1.2% gain in December. Nondurable inventories rose 0.8% in January after falling 0.9% in December. Unfortunately, the strong gain in inventories was likely not planned. Sales, which edged up a slight 0.1% in December, crashed in January and fell 1.9%.
Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while the Treasury Budget for February will be reported at 14:00 ET.
Nasdaq Composite +3.1% YTD
Russell 2000 +2.3% YTD
S&P 500 +1.0% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -1.4% YTD
DJ30 -67.43 NASDAQ -27.26 SP500 -9.54 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 705/2.15 bln/1907 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 988/629.8 mln/2044
3:30 pm :
Apr gold dipped to a session low of $1337.80 per ounce in late morning action after trading as high as $1352.90 per ounce earlier in the session. However, the yellow metal managed to push back into positive territory and settled at $1346.50 per ounce, or 0.4% higher.
May silver pulled back from its session high of $21.33 per ounce and brushed a session low of $20.67 per ounce by late morning pit trade. It eventually settled with a 0.4% loss at $20.82 per ounce.
May copper extended losses for a third consecutive session as concerns over China and its financing deals weighed on the metal. It traded as low as $2.94 per pound, its lowest level since July 2010, and settled with a 2.6% loss at $2.95 per pound.
Apr crude oil extended yesterday's losses, falling below $100 per barrel for the first time since early February. The energy component brushed a session low of $99.88 per barrel as it headed towards the close and settled at $99.99 per barrel, or 1.1% lower.
Apr natural gas spent its entire floor session in the red, falling as low as $4.57 per MMBtu. Unable to find buying support, it settled 1.1% lower at $4.60 per MMBtu.
4:56PM Spansion: US District court dismisses Macronix's patent infringement case against Spansion (CODE) 16.24 -0.32 : Co announced that the United States District Court of Virginia has issued two orders in Spansion's favor. The first court order dismisses the case that Macronix had filed against Spansion, explaining that Macronix's allegations failed to state a valid case for patent infringement. In the second order, the court held that, if Macronix files another complaint, the case will be transferred to the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, which could take more than a year for a decision.
In Spansion's ITC case against Macronix, the trial is scheduled for the end of May 2014. "We expect a favorable final decision for Spansion's ITC investigation," senior vice president Ali Pourkeramati added.
4:10PM MagnaChip Semi: Audit Committee has determined that co incorrectly recognized revenue on certain transactions; will restate its financial statements (stock halted) (MX) 14.33 -0.46 : Co announced that the Audit Committee of the Company's Board of Directors has determined that the Company incorrectly recognized revenue on certain transactions and as a result will restate its financial statements. This conclusion is based upon preliminary findings of an ongoing internal review into practices and procedures by management, conducted at the Audit Committee's request by outside professional advisors and after consultation with management and the Company's independent auditors. Revenue on these transactions was recognized when products were shipped to a distributor but should have been recognized when the distributor shipped the product to the customer. As a result, revenue on these transactions will be reversed and recognized in the period when the products were shipped by the distributor.
The correction of the Company's revenue recognition methodology will be applied retroactively, which the Company currently expects will require the restatement of its financial statements for each of the first, second and third quarters of 2013 and 2012 and for the years ending 2012 and 2011.
The Company does not anticipate that the restatement will cause any changes to the previously reported cash and debt balances as of the end of each of the periods being restated. Based on preliminary unaudited results, the Company currently estimates that its balance of cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2013 was approximately $153.6 million.
As a result of the ongoing internal review and information known to date, the Company does not expect that it will be in a position to complete the restatement and preparation of its fourth quarter and full year 2013 financial statements and audit and file its Annual Report on Form 10-K before its due date of March 17, 2014. Accordingly, the Company expects to file a Form 12b-25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission and currently does not expect that the restatement and Form 10-K will be completed and filed within the 15-day extension period.
The Company also announced today that it has appointed Jonathan W. Kim as Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and principal accounting officer of the Company, effective immediately, and expects that Mr. Kim will assist in the financial statement restatement, accounting policy change and evaluation of internal controls associated with the Audit Committee's internal review. As a result of Mr. Kim's appointment, Margaret Sakai, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company, will no longer serve as the Company's principal accounting officer.
4:05PM VeriFone beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS in-line, revs above consensus; guides FY14 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (PAY) 29.26 -0.06 : Reports Q1 (Jan) earnings of $0.31 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.27; non-GAAP revenues rose 1.6% year/year to $437 mln vs the $428.65 mln consensus.
Co issues in-line EPS guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.30-0.32 vs. $0.31 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 non-GAAP revs of $440-445 vs. $438.90 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Co issues upside EPS guidance for FY14, sees EPS of $1.40 vs. $1.39 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY14 non-GAAP revs of $1.78-1.81 bln vs. $1.79 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
12:21PM Notable movers of interest (SCANX) : The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).
Large Cap Gainers
GMCR (108.45 +4.29%): Coca-Cola (KO) disclosed 10.1% active stake in 13D filing; pursuant to Feb. agreement.
IRE (19.74 +3.35%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
Large Cap Losers
BCS (15.84 -2.76%): Weakness in European financial names (RBS also lower).
ACMP (55.99 -2.55%): Announced pricing of secondary public offering of common units at $54.85 by Global Infrastructure Partners II.
GM (36.33 -2.04%): Co's slow response in recall to be investigated by US House, according to reports.
Mid Cap Gainers
JCP (9.18 +9%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup; tgt raised to $11 from $7.50.
UBNT (49.55 +5%): Initiated with a Outperform at Bernstein; tgt $65.
LGF (33.08 +4.06%): The Hunger Games: Catching Fire sold ~3.9 mln DVD and Blu-Ray units in first weekend of North American release.
Mid Cap Losers
MYGN (34.1 -9.66%): Co disclosed that the District Court denied its motion for preliminary injunctive relief against Ambry Genetics.
AEO (13.47 -5.21%): Beat on EPS by $0.01, reported revs in-line; guided Q1 EPS below consensus.
URBN (35.88 -4.36%): Beat on EPS by $0.04, rev in-line with Feb 10 downside preannouncement; tgt lowered to $45 from $50 at Oppenheimer.
Synopsys (SNPS) announced that STMicroelectronics (STM) has standardized on Synopsys' IC Compiler place-and-route solution for all its CPU and GPU implementations inside its Design Enablement and Services organization.
Marvell (MRVL) announced that the Marvell ARMADA Mobile PXA986 is powering Samsung's (SSNLF) second generation7-inch tablet, the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite.
Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) has received a multiple system order for the co's new Purion XE single wafer, high energy implanter.
8:04AM GT Advanced Technologies signs agreement to supply $336 mln of equipment and technology for a 25,000 MTA polysilicon production facility in Sarawak, Malaysia (GTAT) : Co announces the signing of a $336 mln supply agreement with Cosmos Chemicals Berhad to provide equipment and technology for a 25,0000 metric ton annual polysilicon facility, a project sponsored by Saudi Arabia based Project Management & Development Company, that will be located in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Under the terms of the agreement, which is subject to financing, GTAT will supply its complete suite of polysilicon production equipment and technology including engineering services, hydrochlorination, SDR CVD reactors, filament production, and polysilicon processing. Cosmos Chemicals Berhad is currently securing final financing for the project. Contingent upon completion of this step, GTAT expects the project to commence in phases beginning with the commissioning of engineering work followed by an equipment order.
DSP (DSPG) announced that Grandstream has chosen DSP Group's DVF99 VoIP platform for its new GXP2140 and GXP2160 IP phone models
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