From Briefing.com: 4:35 pm : Profit takers sold early gains and sent the major indices markedly lower for most of the session, but stocks were able to battle back in the second half and finish in mixed fashion despite a lack of positive catalysts.
Out of favor for the second straight session, financials fell 1.8%. Financials were actually up more than 1% in the early going, but sellers pounced on the sector, focusing their efforts on regional banks (-5.6%) and diversified banks (-3.2%).
Bank of America (BAC 12.26, -0.68) was a primary laggard in the financial sector. Investors were unimpressed by news that the company is selling a partial stake in China Construction Bank for $7.3 billion to a consortium of buyers.
Bank of New York (BK 28.43, -1.12) also traded with weakness. It was the latest financial outfit to announce a secondary common stock offering.
Ford (F 5.01, -1.07) also fell out of favor after it announced a common stock offering that will raise funds for general purposes and help provide for certain union obligations, but the offering is also expected to dilute existing shareholders.
General Motors (GM 1.15, -0.29) was dogged as investors become increasingly concerned about whether the company will have a restructuring plan ready for government review by June. Yesterday GM's management indicated that it is more probable that GM will need to accomplish its goals through bankruptcy. Shares of the Dow component are at their lowest level in decades.
Fellow Dow component Microsoft (MSFT 19.89, +0.57) will issue $3.75 billion of senior unsecured notes to help fund working capital requirements, capital expenditures, or share repurchases. Microsoft was a primary leader among tech stocks (-0.6%), which actually underperformed the broader market.
Participants also rotated out of early cycle stocks in favor of defensive-oriented holdings. As such, industrials fell 1.2% and consumer discretionary stocks slid 2.2% as shares of retailers surrendered 0.9%. Retailers will come into sharper focus tomorrow, when the Advance April Retail Sales data is unveiled (8:30 AM ET).
Meanwhile, consumer staples stocks climbed 1.3%, health care advanced 1.4%, telecom tacked on 1.1%, and utilities closed 0.6% higher. Gold gained 1.1% to settle pit trading at $923.90 per ounce.
There weren't any major earnings announcements this session. In terms of economic data, the U.S. trade deficit widened to $27.6 billion in March, which is the first time in eight months that the deficit widened. However, the increase comes off of February's $26.1 billion deficit, which was the narrowest deficit since 1999.
Additionally, the March reading is an improvement from the first quarter average through February, so it should factor favorably into the revised first quarter GDP reading. The latter point aside, the March trade balance report serves as another reminder that global trade continues to contract as countries around the globe grapple with the effects of the financial crisis.DJ30 +50.34 NASDAQ -15.32 NQ100 -1.3% R2K -1.4% SP400 -1.0% SP500 -0.89 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 975/2.48 bln/1747 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1270/1.61 bln/1744
4:16PM GT Solar misses by $0.05, misses on revs; guides FY10 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (SOLR) 7.22 -0.05 : Reports Q4 (Mar) earnings of $0.13 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.18; revenues rose 4.8% year/year to $138.5 mln vs the $151.3 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $0.45-0.60 vs. $0.81 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $450-550 mln vs. $672.06 mln consensus. Co said, "Against the backdrop of the macroeconomic downturn, we saw slower spending by customers in our PV equipment business in the second half of our fiscal year, a trend that is continuing in fiscal 2010. In our polysilicon business, we expect to ship a significant portion of our reactor-based backlog over the next few months and recognize revenue later in fiscal year 2010. We are encouraged that many of our polysilicon customers continue to execute their projects in anticipation of the promising long-term future growth of solar."
4:05PM Applied Materials reports EPS in-line, beats on revs (AMAT) 11.48 -0.24 : Reports Q2 (Apr) loss of $0.10 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of ($0.10); revenues fell 52.5% year/year to $1.02 bln vs the $906.1 mln consensus. Backlog at the end of the period was $3.16 bln, down from $4.05 bln at the end of 1Q09. "In a period of exceptionally weak demand, Applied preserved its strong balance sheet, returned a dividend to our stockholders and made substantial investments in our future," said Mike Splinter, Chairman and CEO.
1:36AM Microsoft announces debt offering (MSFT) 19.32 : Co announces pricing of its offering of $3.75 bln of senior unsecured notes. The notes consist of the following tranches: $2 bln of 2.95% notes due June 1, 2014, $1 bln of 4.20% notes due June 1, 2019 and $750 mln of 5.20% notes due June 1, 2039 Microsoft intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include funding for working capital, capital expenditures, repurchases of stock and acquisitions. The offering is expected to close on May 18, 2009.
1:26AM Zoltek misses by $0.08, misses on revs (ZOLT) 8.03 : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $0.01 per share, $0.08 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.09; revenues fell 27.4% year/year to $36 mln vs the $37.3 mln consensus.
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