No trades today for me due to a schedule personal day off from the markets.------------------------------
Special thanks to Bloomberg, CNNMoney and Yahoo! Finance for their market summaries. Stocks Finish Near Session Lows Attachment:
chart_ws_index_dowfinal.top[1].png [ 16.57 KiB | Viewed 389 times ]
click on the above image to view normal size By Hibah Yousuf, staff reporter
October 4, 2010: 4:53 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks finished near session lows Monday following a midday sell-off, with the Dow and Nasdaq indexes posting their largest one-day losses in nearly a month, as investors remain cautious ahead of corporate earnings season and key employment data due later in the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) tumbled 78 points, or 0.7%, with components Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500), American Express (AXP, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) sinking the most.
The S&P 500 (SPX) lost 9 points, or 0.8%. The Nasdaq (COMP) dropped 26 points, or 1.1%, with a Microsoft downgrade dragging the tech-heavy index lower. Other big tech shares losing ground included Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and Google (GOOG, Fortune 500).
Stocks started the day near the breakeven point, but selling accelerated as the session wore on. With little on the economic docket to attract investors, the September rally has lost its momentum.
"We're just seeing a pullback from that," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. "We're going to get the monthly jobs report later this week, so volume will be light and the market could be volatile ahead of that release."
A report showing a continued slowdown in manufacturing, coupled with data showing some pickup in the housing market, did little to stem the jitters on Monday.
"We'll continue to see a lot of mixed signals," said Karl Mills, president and chief investment officer at Jurika Mills and Keifer. "I think it will be hard for the market to repeat as strong of a month as what we just saw, but it'll depend on the companies' earnings and their outlooks."
Alcoa kicks off the unofficial start of earnings season after the closing bell on Thursday. Investors will also be gearing up for the government's monthly jobs report, due out Friday.
Stocks had started October on a positive note -- although Friday's advance was limited. But with economic uncertainty continuing to underpin the markets, investors could be in for a rough month.
Economy: A report from the Commerce Department showed that factory orders fell 0.5% in August, heightening fears about a slowdown in U.S. manufacturing growth. Economists were expecting order to decrease by 0.4%.
The National Association of Realtors said pending home sales rose 4.3% in August. Economists were expecting the report to show a mere 1% uptick in sales. But pending home sales only indicate contracts being signed and not actual closed purchases.
Companies: Shares of American Express tumbled 6.5%, after the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company. The credit card giant said it has "no intention of settling the case."
The suit comes as rivals Visa (V, Fortune 500) and Mastercard (MA, Fortune 500) settled their antitrust case regarding their credit card policies. Neither company admitted any wrongdoing.
French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) launched a hostile takeover of Genzyme (GENZ, Fortune 500). Sanofi said it was taking its $18.5 billion offer for its rival directly to shareholders, after its efforts to work with the board of Genzyme were "blocked at every turn." Shares of Sanofi fell 0.8%, while Genzyme's stock rose 0.2%.
Shares of Sara Lee (SLE, Fortune 500) climbed 7.2%, after the New York Post reported that the company turned down a $12 billion buyout offer from investment firm KKR & Co.
0:00 /1:22Goldman downgrades Microsoft
Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) fell 1.9%, after the tech giant's shares were cut by a Goldman Sachs analyst.
World markets: European stocks declined Monday. The CAC 40 in France and Germany's DAX closed down at 1.2%. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.7%
In Asia, the Hang Seng gained nearly 1.2%. Japan's Nikkei finished the session down 0.3%. The Bank of Japan started a two-day policy meeting. The Shanghai Composite was closed for Golden Week.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro and the Japanese yen, but fell slightly against the British pound.
Gold futures for December delivery fell $1 to settle at $1,316.80 an ounce.
The price of crude oil for November delivery fell 11 cents to settle at $81.47 per barrel.
Bonds: Prices for U.S. Treasurys rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down to 2.48% from 2.51% late Friday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. The 2-year yield touched a record low just below 0.40%.
Yahoo! Finance 4:30 pm : Broad-based selling dropped stocks for sizable losses Monday. The slide found support at last week's lows, though.
Action was a bit choppy in the early going, but with neither concerted nor clear leadership sellers were able to claim control. Materials stocks were hit with the worst - they dropped 1.4% as steel stocks sank 2.4% and shares of diversified metals and miners dropped 2.1%.
Tech stocks were among the heaviest drags, though, given that the tech is the heaviest by market weight. Its 1.1% loss was largely due to weakness in semiconductor stocks (-1.6%) and semiconductor equipment stocks (-1.9%).
Financials had shown early strength, but faltered as the broader market began to roll over. It ended the day 0.7% lower with considerable weakness in shares of American Express (AXP 39.09, -2.73), which will challenge an antitrust lawsuit by the government. Shares of AXP endured their worst single-session slide since January to settle at their lowest level in three months. Visa (V 73.24, -0.08) and MasterCard (MA 222.64, -2.14) both plan to settle, but each saw its shares settle lower.
The rest of the day's headlines revolved around merger and acquisition activity, which included news that Sanofi-Aventis (SNY 32.87, -0.25) offered to acquire Genzyme (GENZ 71.01, +0.13) for $69 per share, Microsemi (MSCC 18.30, +1.19) will pay $20.88 for each share of Actel (ACTL 20.95, +4.93), and Dynamex (DDMX 21.05, +5.74) will be acquired by Greenbriar Equity for $21.25 per share. Sara Lee (SLE 14.40, +0.97) allegedly rejected a takeover bid from KKR.
There was only a light dose of data today. It didn't do much for traders.
Factory orders for August fell 0.5%, which is a bit steeper than the 0.4% decline that had been expected. Orders for the prior month were revised higher to reflect a 0.5% increase.
Pending home sales increased a stronger-than-expected 4.3% month-over-month. The consensus among economists polled by Briefing.com had called for just a 1.0% increase. Data for the prior month was revised downward to reflect a 4.5% increase, though.
Despite weakness in the stock market, Treasuries really didn't get much support. The benchmark 10-year Note finished up just nine ticks and the 30-year Bond edged just four ticks higher. Their yields now stand just below 2.48% and 3.71%, respectively.
Lackluster trading volume resumed as fewer than a billion shares were traded on the NYSE. The lack of participation suggests that their may not have been much belief in the stock market's mover lower. To be fair, though, share volume was anemic all the way up to the stock market's multi-month highs, which were set just last week.
Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors: Materials (-1.4%), Energy (-1.1%), Tech (-1.1%), Industrials (-1.1%), Health Care (-1.0%), Financials (-0.7%), Consumer Staples (-0.4%), Utilities (-0.3%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.2%)
Unchanged: Telecom DJ30 -78.41 NASDAQ -26.23 SP500 -9.21 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 696/1.92 bln/1936 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 821/943 mln/2160
3:30 pm : Soft commodities were the largest declining group in the commodities sector, led lower by a 4.8% sell off in Dec coffee futures. Outside of that sizeable sell off, it was a quiet session for commodities.
Nov crude oil settled lower by 0.1% to $81.47 per barrel, while Nov natural gas shed 1.5% to finish at $3.73 per MMBtu. Crude put in highs at $82.38 early in pit trade, but spent the remainder of the session chopping around the flat line.
Despite strength in the dollar index, it was an uneventful day for the precious metals. Dec gold finished lower by 0.1% to $1316.80 per ounce, while Dec silver shed 0.2% to close at $22.04 per ounce. DJ30 -90.48 NASDAQ -25.82 SP500 -9.89 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 685/1.5 bln/1935 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 795/558.9 mln/2184
3:00 pm : Session lows successfully held, keeping the stock market confined to its recent trading range.
With the exception of an early upturn, the tone of trade has generally been weak all session. And with just one hour before the closing bell the S&P 500 is on pace for its worst single session slide since a 1.1% drop four weeks ago. DJ30 -100.32 NASDAQ -27.69 SP500 -11.23 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 646/1.41 bln/1974 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 745/610 mln/2213
2:30 pm : After spending a couple of hours drifting sideways the stock market has started to slip back toward its worst levels of the day. Energy stocks have already stretched to session lows, where they now trade with a 1.7% loss. Still, materials stocks are in the worst shape as they contend with a 1.8% loss.
Though this session's slide has been relatively steep, there hasn't been much share volume behind the move as just over a half billion shares have exchanged hands on NYSE. DJ30 -108.80 NASDAQ -31.48 SP500 -12.73 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 610/1.32 bln/1988 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 712/570 mln/2255
2:00 pm : The S&P 500 has spent the past two hours stuck in a five-point trading range. The sideways drift has made for a rather quiet afternoon, though it has given the stock market a chance to consolidate its 1% morning slide.
Materials stocks remain in the worst shape. As a group they are down 1.7%. Energy isn't too far behind, though. That sector has shed 1.4% this session, even though oil prices have managed to muster a modest gain of 0.2% to $82.75 per barrel. DJ30 -96.04 NASDAQ -29.92 SP500 -11.60 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 642/1.22 bln/1943 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 727/525 mln/2228
1:30 pm : Stocks are drifting along near their session lows amid persistent weakness. There haven't been any positive catalysts to help bring buyers back into the action. DJ30 -89.19 NASDAQ -27.85 SP500 -10.73 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 645/1.12 bln/1912 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 728/483 mln/2195
1:00 pm : Stocks staggered a bit at the start of trade, but the tone has since weakened considerably so that stocks are on pace for their worst performance in about four weeks.
Financials had offered the broader market a bit of support in the early going, but the sector has since succumbed to some rather stiff selling. Its 0.8% loss has taken the sector back to its 50-day moving average.
Within the financial sector, investment banks and brokerages are down 1.6%. Consumer finance stocks are down 2.0%. According to various headlines, payment processors Visa (V 73.48, +0.16) and MasterCard (MA 224.04, -0.74) will settle with the Department of Justice on an antitrust probe.
Given that the tech sector makes up more than 18% of the S&P 500's market weight, more than any other sector, its 1.5% loss has had the heaviest drag on the overall market. Semiconductor stocks are especially weak, as seen in the Semiconductor HOLDRs ETF (SMH 27.20, -0.54).
Of the major sectors, only telecom has managed to keep itself near the neutral line. Its fractional gain comes amid strength in relatively high dividend yield stocks like AT&T (T 28.89, +0.08) and Verizon (VZ 33.00, +0.11). Verizon announced this morning that it will issue credits to customers for billing errors.
Such widespread weakness has taken stocks back to last week's lows and caused the Volatility Index to spike 8% higher.
Weakness among stocks and heightened volatility has spurred an interest in Treasuries. The benchmark 10-year Note is now up 10 ticks so that its yield is down to 2.47%. However, the 30-year Bond has only managed to gain five ticks so that its yield is down to about 3.71%.
Merger and acquisition activity continues to dominate corporate news ahead of earnings season, which gets its unofficial start when Dow component Alcoa (AA 11.91, -0.32) reports its latest results Thursday night. Among the more notable M&A announcements, Sanofi-Aventis (SNY 32.82, -0.30) has offered to acquire Genzyme (GENZ 71.17, +0.29) for $69 per share, Microsemi (MSCC 18.47, +1.36) will pay $20.88 for each share of Actel (ACTL 20.92, +4.90), and Dynamex (DDMX 20.99, +5.68) will be acquired by Greenbriar Equity for $21.25 per share. There were also reports that Sara Lee (SLE 14.52, +1.09) rejected a takeover bid from KKR.
Data has had little influence over trade today. Factory orders for August fell slightly more than expected with a 0.5% slide, but pending home sales made bigger-than-expected bounce with a 4.3% month-over-month increase. DJ30 -94.95 NASDAQ -31.85 SP500 -11.37 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 584/1.05 bln/1973 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 698/450 mln/2226
12:30 pm : Selling has subsided. Stocks remain near session lows, though. Volatility is up 8%, based on the Volatility Index.
Commodities have fallen back under pressure since staging a bit of a bounce earlier this morning. The slip has taken the CRB Commodity Index back to a 0.5% loss. DJ30 -98.99 NASDAQ -33.79 SP500 -12.17 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 569/965 mln/1973 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 652/410 mln/2240
12:00 pm : Stocks had stabilized their recent slide for a few minutes, but sellers have since redoubled their efforts to drop the major averages another leg lower. The downturn puts stocks near last week's lows.
Pressure remains broad with every major sector under pressure. In fact, half of them are down by at least 1%.
Treasuries are ticking higher in response to the stock market's selloff. The benchmark 10-year Note is now up 10 ticks so that its yield is down to 2.47%. Buying has been more moderate in the 30-year Bond, which is now up just five ticks so that its yield is down to about 3.71%. DJ30 -98.92 NASDAQ -33.98 SP500 -12.40 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 556/840 mln/1951 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 627/365 mln/2249
11:30 am : Selling has accelerated so that the stock market's loss has doubled over the past half hour. Of the 10 major sectors in the S&P 500, only telecom (+0.1%) has managed to remain in higher ground.
Weakness among tech stocks has had the most damaging impact. Tech, which is the largest sector by market weight, is down 1.3%. Within the sector, semiconductor stocks are especially weak as they grapple with a 2.0% loss.
Volatility has picked up with the increase in selling activity. In turn, the Volatility Index is now up more than 5%. DJ30 -70.01 NASDAQ -31.50 SP500 -9.69 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 581/715 mln/1900 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 696/312 mln/2170
11:00 am : Stocks have fallen to fresh session lows. Weakness has become widespread, but the size of the stock market's overall loss is still relatively modest.
Small-caps stocks are seeing a bit more pressure, though. In turn, the Russell 2000 is down 0.8%, which is twice the size of the loss currently displayed by the S&P 500. Among small-cap plays, Huron Consulting (HURN 19.44, -3.09) is a primary source of weakness following news that the company has revised downward its revenue forecast amid contract and project delays and plans to divest its disputes and investigations practice. DJ30 -27.25 NASDAQ -14.49 SP500 -4.81 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 787/540 mln/1626 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 912/254 mln/1895
10:30 am : A number of commodities have pulled back in recent trade as the dollar index remains in positive territory at 78.36 (session highs were put in at 78.523).
November crude oil rallied into positive territory in the last couple of hours, hitting today's high of $82.38 per barrel just before pit trading began. Crude has since pulled back below the $82 marker and is now 0.2% higher at $81.73 per barrel.
November natural gas fell a quick 2.2% just before the top of the hour, hitting new session lows of $3.69 per MMBtu. The energy component has been in the red all session, in fact, and is now 2.6% lower at $3.70 per MMBtu.
Precious metals are are modestly lower in morning trade. December gold is currently 0.2% lower at $1314.80 per ounce, while December silver is down 0.1% at $22.04 per ounce.
DJ30 +8.82 NASDAQ -5.47 SP500 -0.51 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 938/370.4 mln/1376 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1151/184.6 mln/1581
10:00 am : A recent, broad-based bid had helped stocks recover from their opening slide, but selling has resumed.
Weakness among steel stocks (-1.5%), aluminum plays (-1.3%), and diversified metals and miners (-1.2%) has the materials sector down to a 0.7% loss. Of the major sectors, it is currently in the worst shape.
Telecom stocks have managed to hold on to a 0.5% gain, which makes it the best performing sector, so far. Telecom is currently led by integrated plays like AT&T (T 29.00, +0.19) and Verizon (VZ 33.08, +0.19). Verizon announced this morning that it will issue credits to customers for billing errors. DJ30 -2.12 NASDAQ -9.58 SP500 -1.84 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 819/215 mln/1353 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1005/119 mln/1662
09:45 am : The major equity averages are currently mixed after all three opened trade in the red. Tech stocks (-0.4%) and materials stocks (-0.6%) remain quite weak, but financials (+0.3%) have attracted enough support to swing into positive ground.
Commodities have also improved their position, such that the CRB Commodity Index is now down just 0.2% after it was off by 0.7% at its morning low.
The bounces by the stock market and commodities come as the dollar pulls back a bit. Shortly ahead of the open the greenback was up about 0.5%, but it is now up less than 0.3% against competing currencies. DJ30 +21.34 NASDAQ -0.19 SP500 +1.78 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1066/138 mln/1030 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1408/89 mln/1186
09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -2.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -5.80. Premarket trade remains rather weak as stock futures continue to trail fair value. So far, market participants have been uninspired by a barrage of corporate buyouts and acquisitions, which have come against a backdrop of losses among Europe's major bourses. The euro is also under pressure as it drops to a 0.7% loss against the dollar after a strong streak of gains. Coming up, though, are factory orders for August and pending home sales for August at 10:00 AM ET.
09:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.90. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -7.00. Futures for the S&P 500 continue to trade with relative weakness. Outside of the U.S., broad-based selling has sent Germany's DAX to a 1.0% loss. Of the 30 components in the bourse, only Deutsche Bank (DB), Commerzbank, Henkel, and Merck have managed to muster gains. Meanwhile, automakers Daimler (DAI), BMW, and Volkswagen are atop the list of laggards. In France, the CAC has fallen to a 1.0% loss. Only Michelin and Natixis are in higher ground. The other 38 members of the French Index are either flat or in the red. Natural resource plays Total (TOT) and ArcelorMittal (MT) have been a couple of the heavier drags on trade. In a similar vein, BP Plc (BP), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and Rio Tinto (RTP) have hampered Britain's FTSE, which is off by 0.2% at the moment. Strength in banking plays HSBC (HBC) and Standard Chartered have helped limit losses, though. As for data, the September Construction PMI for the United Kingdom came in at 53.8, which is up from the 52.1 that was recorded for August. More broadly, eurozone August PPI made a 0.1% increase after a 0.2% increase in July.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei slipped to a 0.3% loss. It was led lower by Softbank, NTT Data, and Eisai LTD. Kyocera (KYO) showed strength, however. Japan's central bank began a two-day meeting on Monday. Many expect it to take steps to further ease monetary policy. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite remained closed for holiday observance, but the country's latest non-manufacturing PMI figure was released during the weekend. The reading rose to 61.7 from 60.1. Hong Kong's Hang Seng staged a 1.2% gain after it reopened from a holiday break. Advancing issues were led by heavyweights CNOOC (CEO), PetroChina (PTR), HSBC, and China Mobile. Li & Fung, China Resources, and Hang Lung Properties lagged.
08:30 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -4.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -8.30. Commodities are down a bit this morning, such that the CRB Commodity Index has shed 0.5%. Oil prices are down 0.4% to $81.30 per barrel in electronic trade. Natural gas prices are down 1.3% to $3.75 per MMBtu. As for precious metals, gold prices are down 0.2% to $1313.60 per ounce and silver prices are down 0.1% to $22.04 per ounce. Weakness in the commodities space comes amid a stronger dollar, which was recently quoted with a 0.4% gain against a basket of competing currencies.
08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.10. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -5.50. Stock futures are down despite a bevy of buyouts and acquisitions. Among the announcements, Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) has offered to acquire Genzyme (GENZ) for $69 per share, which is a bit below GENZ's closing price from last week. Also, Microsemi (MSCC) will pay $20.88 for each share of Actel (ACTL), Dynamex (DDMX) will be acquired by Greenbriar Equity for $21.25 per share, Westlake Chemical (WLK) has purchased a 50% equity stake in a pipeline from Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP), and MEDNAX (MD) will acquire Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants. A light dose of data comes at 10:00 AM ET, when factory orders for August and pending home sales numbers for August are released. The dollar is up 0.3% against competing currencies ahead of the announcements. The move brings it up from the eight-month low that it set late last week.
06:45 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -5.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -8.50.
06:42 am : Nikkei...9381.06...-23.20...-0.30%. Hang Seng...22618.66...+260.50...+1.20%.
06:42 am : FTSE...5568.72...-24.20...-0.40%. DAX...6149.06...-62.20...-1.00%.
Special thanks to Bloomberg, CNNMoney and Yahoo! Finance for their market summaries. Best Regards,
M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of
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