From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 14-Mar-14
Dow -43.22 at 16065.67, Nasdaq -15.02 at 4245.40, S&P -5.21 at 1841.13
The major averages ended the week on a lower note as participants continued reducing their risk exposure ahead of the weekend, which will feature a Sunday referendum in Crimea on potential annexation to Russia.
The stock market opened with modest losses, but made a quick recovery with help from most sectors; however, the S&P 500 (-0.3%) was unable to make a sustained move above the 1852 level, which marked the session high for the benchmark index.
After making an early jump to highs, the S&P 500 spent the next hour in a steady retreat towards its session lows as the three top weighted sectors-financials (-0.6%), technology (-0.7%), and health care (-0.5%)-refused to take part in the rally. The three groups remained among the laggards throughout the day, keeping the broader market from maintaining its gain after the major averages jumped back into the green in the late morning.
The return into positive territory occurred after comments from the press conference held by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the rounds. Specifically, Mr. Lavrov said Russia has no intentions of invading Eastern Ukraine. That remark gained the most traction, but Mr. Lavrov continued, saying U.S. and Russia remain at odds regarding Ukraine and that Russia does not need any international structure to mediate in Russia-Ukraine relations.
After the Russian Foreign Minister delivered his statement, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry conducted a press conference of his own. Secretary Kerry said that despite prolonged discussions with his Russian counterpart, not much has changed and that the Sunday referendum remains on schedule.
Although stocks made their way back into the green after Mr. Lavrov's press conference, they spent the afternoon in a slow retreat as the largest sectors weighed. Interestingly, small caps outperformed with the Russell 2000 holding a modest gain throughout the session. The index ended higher by 0.4% while large caps were not as fortunate.
The technology sector (-0.7%) ended at the bottom of the leaderboard. The space was pressured by its largest members. Apple (AAPL 524.69, -5.96), Google (GOOG 1172.80, -16.26), and Qualcomm (QCOM 74.74, -0.89) lost between 1.1% and 1.3%.
Elsewhere, the financial sector (-0.6%) trimmed its month-to-date gain to 0.4%. Even though the sector maintained its gain for the month, it surrendered its year-to-date advance (-0.5%). Top sector components registered losses across the board with Bank of America (BAC 16.80, -0.36) leading the weakness with a 2.1% decline.
Even though stocks finished on their lows, Treasuries did not move much during afternoon action. The benchmark 10-yr yield ended little changed at 2.65% versus 2.72% registered last Friday.
While Treasuries did not signal additional safe-haven flows today, the foreign exchange market did. The Japanese yen continued its recent strength, sending the dollar/yen pair to the 101.30 area after starting the week around 103.30.
Volatility protection was in demand throughout the session, pushing the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 17.77, +1.55) to levels last seen on February 6.
Similar to yesterday, trading volume was on the light side with only 628 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.
Looking back at today's data:
Producer prices declined 0.1% in February after increasing 0.2% in January while the Briefing.com consensus expected producer prices to increase 0.2%. The drop in producer prices was the result of a sharp drop in producer services costs. Final demand for goods rose 0.4% for a third consecutive month whereas final demand for services declined 0.3% in February. Excluding food and energy, overall core prices declined 0.2% in February after increasing 0.2% in January. The consensus expected these prices to increase 0.1%.
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index slipped to 79.9 in the March preliminary reading from 81.6 in February. The Briefing.com consensus expected the index to increase to 82.0. The Current Conditions Index increased to 96.1 from 95.4 in February. The Expectations Index fell to 69.4 in March from 72.7.
On Monday, the Empire Manufacturing Survey for March will be announced at 8:30 ET while the January Net Long-Term TIC Flows report will cross the wires at 9:00 ET. The Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report for February will be released at 9:15 ET while the day's data will be topped off with the 10:00 ET release of the NAHB Housing Market Index for March.
Week in Review: Stocks Slump as Focus Turns Back to Ukraine
The major averages began the new trading week on a slightly lower note with small caps leading the weakness. The Russell 2000 shed 0.3% while the S&P 500 slipped less than a point with six sectors ending in the red. Equity indices started the day in negative territory with only the Nasdaq (-0.04%) making a very brief appearance in the green. After sliding through the first hour of action, the major averages reversed and spent the remainder of the session climbing off their lows with help from the three top-weighted sectors. Health care and financials gained 0.4% and 0.04%, respectively, while technology (-0.1%) ended just below its flat line. Also contributing to the rebound was the energy sector, which added 0.2% even as crude oil fell 1.4% to $101.07/bbl. The S&P 500 tried to regain its flat line, but came up just short as the weakness among consumer discretionary (-0.4%), industrials (-0.5%), and materials (-0.1%) sectors kept a lid on the attempted rally.
Stocks 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. The key 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 was overlooked due to the opening 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 while the other sectors followed suit.
On Wednesday, the market finished the session on a mixed note. The Nasdaq (+0.4%) and Russell 2000 (+0.3%) posted modest gains while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.1%) finished in the red. For its part, the S&P 500 (+0.03%) settled just above its flat line. Stocks began the day in the red, but spent the first two hours of action in a steady climb off their lows. The cautious start took place amid broad-based weakness across major European markets where Germany's DAX, Great Britain's FTSE, and France's CAC all posted losses close to 1.0% apiece. In addition to the weakness in Europe, losses among major Asian indices also weighed on the early sentiment. On that note, markets in Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong fell 2.6%, 1.7%, and 1.7%, respectively, while China's Shanghai Composite (-0.2%) outperformed.
The stock market ended the Thursday session near the lows after renewed concerns surrounding the situation in Ukraine, combined with more warnings signs from China, contributed to participants reducing their risk exposure. The jitters related to China are tied up in economic and financial risk, whereas, the concerns over Ukraine are tied up in geopolitical risk that has the potential to become a global economic problem. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (-1.5%) led the retreat while the S&P 500 lost 1.2% with eight sectors ending in the red. As a result, the benchmark index settled below its 2013 closing high of 1848.36. Equity indices began the session with modest gains, but the early strength was short-lived as the S&P 500 notched its high within the first ten minutes of action, spending the remainder of the trading day in a steady slide. Although stocks opened higher, the dollar/yen pair flashed an early warning signal when it began dropping at the start of the New York Session. The currency pair hovered near 102.80, but slumped all the way to 101.60 by the time the closing bell rang.
Index Started Week Ended Week Change % Change YTD %
DJIA 16452.72 16065.67 -387.05 -2.4 -3.1
Nasdaq 4336.22 4245.40 -90.82 -2.1 1.6
S&P 500 1878.04 1841.13 -36.91 -2.0 -0.4
Russell 2000 1203.32 1181.41 -21.91 -1.8 1.5
5:03PM This week's biggest % gainers/losers (SCANX) : The following are this week's top 20 percentage gainers and top 20 percentage losers, categorized by sectors (over $300 mln market cap and 100K average daily volume).
This week's top 20 % gainers
Technology: CALL (22.76 +24.71%)
Services: VLCCF (14 +26.13%), BYD (13.82 +14.4%)
Industrial Goods: CPST (2.22 +21.31%)
Healthcare: CMRX (27.14 +44.9%), TSRO (36.76 +21.88%), AMRI (18.81 +20.42%), VNDA (17.65 +15.21%), UNIS (4.8 +14.56%)
Financial: CISG (8.94 +22.13%)
Basic Materials: SAND (6.71 +26.37%), EPL (38.05 +26.08%), BPZ (2.97 +20.73%), MUX (3.56 +18.27%), PPP (7.8 +16.59%), ANV (6.39 +15.97%), EMES (53.25 +15.76%), GFI (4.36 +15.65%), ALJ (15.94 +14.59%), NG (4.57 +13.4%)
This week's top 20 % losers
Technology: VRNS (42 -21.47%), PLUG (6.71 -18.86%), YOKU (29.16 -18.11%), CUDA (34.69 -17.09%), TSL (15.26 -16.79%)
Services: DL (19.73 -25.46%), HELI (7.26 -25%), BPI (14.55 -24.53%), HTHT (23.44 -21.47%), ARO (5.83 -21%), HMIN (30.55 -18.66%), QUNR (29.03 -18.29%), DANG (15.54 -16.72%), WBAI (41.43 -16.3%)
Industrial Goods: AMRC (7.52 -25.62%), RAVN (32.44 -17.1%)
Healthcare: RPTP (11.25 -27.93%), PETX (17.03 -17.21%)
Financial: RM (24.45 -19.52%), WRLD (81.03 -17.7%)
4:23PM Closing Market Summary: Stocks End Down Week on Cautious Note Ahead of Crimean Referendum (WRAPX) : The major averages ended the week on a lower note as participants continued reducing their risk exposure ahead of the weekend, which will feature a Sunday referendum in Crimea on potential annexation to Russia.
The stock market opened with modest losses, but made a quick recovery with help from most sectors; however, the S&P 500 (-0.3%) was unable to make a sustained move above the 1852 level, which marked the session high for the benchmark index.
After making an early jump to highs, the S&P 500 spent the next hour in a steady retreat towards its session lows as the three top weighted sectors-financials (-0.6%), technology (-0.7%), and health care (-0.5%)-refused to take part in the rally. The three groups remained among the laggards throughout the day, keeping the broader market from maintaining its gain after the major averages jumped back into the green in the late morning.
The return into positive territory occurred after comments from the press conference held by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the rounds. Specifically, Mr. Lavrov said Russia has no intentions of invading Eastern Ukraine. That remark gained the most traction, but Mr. Lavrov continued, saying U.S. and Russia remain at odds regarding Ukraine and that Russia does not need any international structure to mediate in Russia-Ukraine relations.
After the Russian Foreign Minister delivered his statement, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry conducted a press conference of his own. Secretary Kerry said that despite prolonged discussions with his Russian counterpart, not much has changed and that the Sunday referendum remains on schedule.
Although stocks made their way back into the green after Mr. Lavrov's press conference, they spent the afternoon in a slow retreat as the largest sectors weighed. Interestingly, small caps outperformed with the Russell 2000 holding a modest gain throughout the session. The index ended higher by 0.4% while large caps were not as fortunate.
The technology sector (-0.7%) ended at the bottom of the leaderboard. The space was pressured by its largest members. Apple (AAPL 524.69, -5.96), Google (GOOG 1172.80, -16.26), and Qualcomm (QCOM 74.74, -0.89) lost between 1.1% and 1.3%.
Elsewhere, the financial sector (-0.6%) trimmed its month-to-date gain to 0.4%. Even though the sector maintained its gain for the month, it surrendered its year-to-date advance (-0.5%). Top sector components registered losses across the board with Bank of America (BAC 16.80, -0.36) leading the weakness with a 2.1% decline.
Even though stocks finished on their lows, Treasuries did not move much during afternoon action. The benchmark 10-yr yield ended little changed at 2.65% versus 2.72% registered last Friday.
While Treasuries did not signal additional safe-haven flows today, the foreign exchange market did. The Japanese yen continued its recent strength, sending the dollar/yen pair to the 101.30 area after starting the week around 103.30.
Volatility protection was in demand throughout the session, pushing the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 17.77, +1.55) to levels last seen on February 6.
Similar to yesterday, trading volume was on the light side with only 628 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.
Looking back at today's data:
Producer prices declined 0.1% in February after increasing 0.2% in January while the Briefing.com consensus expected producer prices to increase 0.2%. The drop in producer prices was the result of a sharp drop in producer services costs. Final demand for goods rose 0.4% for a third consecutive month whereas final demand for services declined 0.3% in February. Excluding food and energy, overall core prices declined 0.2% in February after increasing 0.2% in January. The consensus expected these prices to increase 0.1%.
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index slipped to 79.9 in the March preliminary reading from 81.6 in February. The Briefing.com consensus expected the index to increase to 82.0. The Current Conditions Index increased to 96.1 from 95.4 in February. The Expectations Index fell to 69.4 in March from 72.7.
On Monday, the Empire Manufacturing Survey for March will be announced at 8:30 ET while the January Net Long-Term TIC Flows report will cross the wires at 9:00 ET. The Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report for February will be released at 9:15 ET while the day's data will be topped off with the 10:00 ET release of the NAHB Housing Market Index for March.
Russell 2000 +1.9% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +1.7% YTD
S&P 500 -0.4% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -3.1% YTD
Week in Review: Stocks Slump as Focus Turns Back to Ukraine
The major averages began the new trading week on a slightly lower note with small caps leading the weakness. The Russell 2000 shed 0.3% while the S&P 500 slipped less than a point with six sectors ending in the red. Equity indices started the day in negative territory with only the Nasdaq (-0.04%) making a very brief appearance in the green. After sliding through the first hour of action, the major averages reversed and spent the remainder of the session climbing off their lows with help from the three top-weighted sectors. Health care and financials gained 0.4% and 0.04%, respectively, while technology (-0.1%) ended just below its flat line. Also contributing to the rebound was the energy sector, which added 0.2% even as crude oil fell 1.4% to $101.07/bbl. The S&P 500 tried to regain its flat line, but came up just short as the weakness among consumer discretionary (-0.4%), industrials (-0.5%), and materials (-0.1%) sectors kept a lid on the attempted rally.
Stocks 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. The key 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 was overlooked due to the opening 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 while the other sectors followed suit.
On Wednesday, the market finished the session on a mixed note. The Nasdaq (+0.4%) and Russell 2000 (+0.3%) posted modest gains while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.1%) finished in the red. For its part, the S&P 500 (+0.03%) settled just above its flat line. Stocks began the day in the red, but spent the first two hours of action in a steady climb off their lows. The cautious start took place amid broad-based weakness across major European markets where Germany's DAX, Great Britain's FTSE, and France's CAC all posted losses close to 1.0% apiece. In addition to the weakness in Europe, losses among major Asian indices also weighed on the early sentiment. On that note, markets in Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong fell 2.6%, 1.7%, and 1.7%, respectively, while China's Shanghai Composite (-0.2%) outperformed.
The stock market ended the Thursday session near the lows after renewed concerns surrounding the situation in Ukraine, combined with more warnings signs from China, contributed to participants reducing their risk exposure. The jitters related to China are tied up in economic and financial risk, whereas, the concerns over Ukraine are tied up in geopolitical risk that has the potential to become a global economic problem. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (-1.5%) led the retreat while the S&P 500 lost 1.2% with eight sectors ending in the red. As a result, the benchmark index settled below its 2013 closing high of 1848.36. Equity indices began the session with modest gains, but the early strength was short-lived as the S&P 500 notched its high within the first ten minutes of action, spending the remainder of the trading day in a steady slide. Although stocks opened higher, the dollar/yen pair flashed an early warning signal when it began dropping at the start of the New York Session. The currency pair hovered near 102.80, but slumped all the way to 101.60 by the time the closing bell rang.
12:36PM 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 (115.36 +8.67%): Co and Starbucks (SBUX) amended terms of existing five-year agreement to continue to expand Starbucks range of K-Cup pack offerings; co and Peet's Coffee & Tea also announced a partnership
LMCA (136.8 +8.45%): Co announced the creation of tracking stock structure; says offer for SiriusXM (SIRI) is no longer applicable
BSX (13.14 +3.14%): Announced CE Mark approval and first implants of INGEVITY MRI pacing leads
Large Cap Losers
CELG (150.74 -3.37%): UK's NICE issuing new draft guidance on the use of Revlimid (lenalidomide); stock was defended at ISI Group
GILD (75.55 -3.15%): Idenix Pharmaceuticals (IDIX) filed patent infringement lawsuits against the company in Europe
UBS (20.38 -2.63%): Bloomberg reporting UBS traders were found to have tried to rig Hong Kong's benchmark interest rate from 2006-2009
Mid Cap Gainers
ULTA (96.42 +7.71%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.02 ($1.09 vs $1.07 estimate), revs rose 14.4% yoy to $868.1 mln vs $855.25 mln estimate; comps +9.2%; sees Q1 EPS of $0.70-0.75 vs $0.79 estimate, revs of $693-704 mln vs $695.86 mln estimate
NSM (33.21 +6.19%): Kyle Bass' Hayman Capital disclosed 5.3% passive stake
ALK (91.23 +4.37%): Target raised to $100 from $95 at Cowen
Mid Cap Losers
ITMN (32.5 -2.29%): Priced 7.5 mln share offering of common stock at $32.75 per share
CXP (25.91 -1.93%): Mentioned negatively by Jim Cramer
X (24.12 -1.15%): Downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse
11:52AM Relative sector strength (TECHX) : Sectors that are outperforming the S&P on the push off the low include: Internet FDN, Retail XRT, Discretionary XLY, Industrial XLI, Finance/Bank XLF/KBE,
11:47AM Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (81) outpacing new lows (51) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAN, ACU, ASRV, AWK, BFAM, CBOE, COLB, CPE, CPK, CRL, DOX, EA, EGLT, EMES, ENZ, EVER, FCNCA, FMI, FSM, GFN, GROW, GSAT, GXP, HTM, ICGE, ITC, JACK, JVA, KIN, KNOP, KRNY, LHO, LLTC, LNT, LSG, MANH, MDRX, MFRM, MPC, MPWR, MUX, NEE, NG, NJR, NRF, NVDQ, OZRK, PFSW, PHX, PLM, PNM, PPP, PRI, PSXP, PZZA, QADA, QUMU, RCAP, RFMD, RGLD, RLYP, SAAS, SOHO, SRE, SSRI, STO, SWC, SYN, TQNT, TRNS, TSN, UBSH, UGI, USAP, UTL, VLCCF, VNDA, WEC, WES, WGP, WIBC
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ADT, AH, AHP, AKO.A, ARO, AVNW, BCS, BIOC, BODY, BWP, CCCL, CERE, CHL, CHRW, COBK, CONN, COVS, CTCM, CYH, CZZ, DO, ELNK, EROC, FST, FSYS, GGS, HELI, IGC, KOF, LAQ, LMNS, MTL, MTU, NE, NIHD, PBR, PBR.A, PGEM, RELL, RIG, RLOC, SC, SDR, SUNS, SYMC, TEU, VALE, VHC, WRLD, XOXO, ZNH
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: FXF
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: UUP
Trina Solar (TSL) announced its Trinasmart product has received IEC 61215/61730 certification from TUV Rheinland. Trinasmart is the first smart module to receive certification from TUV Rheinland in Greater China.
7:03AM Canadian Solar announces opening of Canadian Solar Microgrid Testing Centre (CSIQ) 33.07 : Co announced the opening of Canadian Solar Microgrid Testing Centre. The Centre will focus on micro-grid solution testing, and system solution design and smart grid assessment services.
QLogic (QLGC) announced it has completed the acquisition of the 10/40/100Gb Ethernet controller-related assets from Broadcom, pursuant to the definitive agreement that was previously announced on February 18, 2014. Under the terms of the agreement, QLogic paid approximately $147 million. In addition, QLogic entered into a license agreement that will cover its Fibre Channel products and made a one-time payment of $62 million. QLogic announced today that it is also implementing a restructuring plan designed to consolidate its product roadmap in connection with the completion of the Broadcom transaction. The restructuring plan includes a workforce reduction primarily associated with the consolidation of its engineering activities and is expected to be substantially completed within the next three months. In connection with these restructuring activities, the company expects to incur pre-tax GAAP charges between $13 million and $16 million, the majority of which are expected to be recorded in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ending March 30, 2014. QLogic is also reaffirming its previously provided fourth quarter financial guidance of EPS $0.19-0.25 & revenues of $110-116 million which are in line with estimates. QLogic will discuss the financial impact of the transaction during its fourth quarter earnings call. Further, as previously disclosed, the company expects the acquisition to be accretive to revenue and non-GAAP earnings in the first quarter and for the full year of fiscal 2015.
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