“2:00 pm : The dollar index has been under pressure after slipping back below the 80.00 level and now trades on session lows near 79.75. The yen continues to see safe-haven buying as worries over the health of Spain make their way back into the headlines. Today’s strength ran the yen up to 80.40 against the dollar. Meanwhile, the euro is stronger despite the uncertainty regarding Spain. Early selling dropped the single currency to a session low of 1.2995, but some fresh buying now has it trading up 60 pips and at session highs near 1.3135. The move in the euro comes even as Spanish CDS hit another record high, and as the Spanish 10-yr yield climbed back above 6.00%. Elsewhere, the pound is riding the coattails of the euro and trades up 35 pips at 1.5890.DJ30 +134.04 NASDAQ -12.38 SP500 +5.26 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1456/982.5 mln/1017 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1975/385.6 mln/1046
1:30 pm : Markets continue to trade in a relatively tight midday range, with the technology sector underperforming the broader market to a large degree. Although there aren’t any influential earnings reports after tonight’s close, the flow of important earnings really picks up over the remainder of the week.
Tomorrow morning, results from the following big names are scheduled to be released: Coca-Cola Co. (KO 72.58, +0.64), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS 116.13, +1.04), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 64.04, +0.50), Omnicom Group (OMC 49.34, +0.61), Northern Trust (NTRS 45.88, +0.18), State Street (STT 43.34, +0.15), TD Ameritrade (AMTD 18.81, -0.05) and U.S. Bancorp (USB 31.11, +0.21).
Then tomorrow afternoon we get results from the following: IBM (IBM 204.32, +1.52), Intel (INTC 28.28, +0.19), Yahoo! (YHOO 14.78, -0.09),Seagate (STX 28.43, +1.05), Stryker (SYK 54.15, +0.19) and CSX Corp. (CSX 22.07, +0.15).
Over the remainder of the week there is a heavy flow of earnings from major companies, with 17% of the S&P 500 components scheduled to release results.DJ30 +85.83 NASDAQ -24.08 SP500 -0.33 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1289/891.7 mln/1173 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1695/344.3 mln/1305
1:00 pm : The major averages continue to see mixed results in afternoon trade. The Dow continues to see gains, trading up 0.5% while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 hold respective losses of 0.9% and 0.2%.
Shares of Citigroup (C 34.05, +0.64) are trading up 1.9% despite the company missing on both the top and bottom lines. The banking giant announced earnings per share of $0.95 on revenues of $19.41 billion as both numbers missed their consensus estimates by fairly wide margins. The Capital IQ Consensus estimate was calling for earnings of $1.00 per share on revenues of $19.94 billion. Credit Value Adjustment/Debt Valuation Adjustment was a negative $1.3 billion during the first quarter, resulting from the tightening of the company’s spreads, compared to -$256 million in the prior year.
Endocyte (ECYT 7.80, +4.00) is up 105.5% after Merck (MRK 38.00, +0.22) announced it purchased the rights to Vintafolide, the company’s experimental cancer drug for as much as $1 billion. The drug is currently being evaluated in a Phase III clinical trial for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and a phase II trial for non-small cell lung cancer.
Mobile phone ringtone maker Vringo (VRNG 4.37, +1.33) is higher by 43.8% following a disclosure filed by Mark Cuban which indicates he owns a 7.4% stake in the company.
Technology giants Apple (AAPL 586.74, -18.49) and Google (GOOG 606.00, -18.60) are under notable selling pressure with both Nasdaq heavyweights trading down in excess of 3.0%.
YPF Sociedad Anonima (YPF 19.25, -2.70) is under heavy selling pressure on reports the Argentine government will attempt to take a stake of as much as 50.01% in the company. The government says the takeover would be in “public interest.” There had been reports circulating early in 2012 suggesting a move like this may occur at some point in the future.
Shares of homebuilders are flat following this morning’s disappointing NAHB Housing Market Index number with the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 20.75, +0.02) up fractionally.
Treasuries are seeing a safe-haven bid as worries over Spain have maturities at their best levels since March 7. Buying has dropped the 10-yr yield to a session low of 1.946%. DJ30 +69.97 NASDAQ -26.83 SP500 -1.75 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1167/821.8 mln/1259 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1539/316.3 mln/1445
12:30 pm : The major averages are slipping back towards session lows as trade remains mixed. The Dow continues to lead with a gain of 0.5% while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 hold losses of 0.9% and 0.2% respectively.
Shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima (YPF 18.67, -3.28) are under heavy selling pressure on reports the Argentine government will attempt to take a stake of as much as 50.01% in the company. The government says the takeover would be in “public interest.” There had been reports circulating early in 2012 suggesting a move like this may occur at some point in the future.DJ30 +60.74 NASDAQ -25.94 SP500 -2.00 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1138/759.4 mln/1284 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1481/292.6 mln/1483
12:00 pm : The major averages continue their mixed trade with the Dow up 0.3% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hold respective losses of 0.2% and 0.9%.
Mobile phone ringtone maker Vringo (VRNG 4.04, +1.00) is higher by 32.2% following a disclosure filed by Mark Cuban which indicates he owns a 7.4% stake in the company.DJ30 +49.61 NASDAQ -25.70 SP500 -2.56 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1108/674.8 mln/1307 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1446/262.7 mln/1503
11:30 am : The major indices remain mixed as the Dow holds a 0.6% gain, the S&P 500 trades flat, and the Nasdaq is down 0.6%.
Endocyte (ECYT 7.70, +3.90) is up 102.6% after Merck (MRK 38.00, +0.22) announced it purchased the rights to Vintafolide, the company’s experimental cancer drug, for as much as $1 billion. The drug is currently being evaluated in a Phase III clinical trial for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and a phase II trial for non-small cell lung cancer. DJ30 +76.78 NASDAQ -17.86 SP500 -0.05 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1169/591.6 mln/1205 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1546/229.0 mln/1369
11:00 am : The major averages continue their mixed trade with the Dow and S&P 500 seeing respective gains of 0.5% and 0.1% while the Nasdaq holds a loss of 0.5%.
Shares of Citigroup (C 34.19, +0.78) are trading up 2.3% despite the company missing on both the top and bottom lines. The banking giant announced earnings per share of $0.95 on revenues of $19.41 billion as both numbers missed their consensus estimates by fairly wide margins. The Capital IQ Consensus estimate was calling for earnings of $1.00 per share on revenues of $19.94 billion. Credit Value Adjustment/Debt Valuation Adjustment was a negative $1.3 billion during the first quarter, resulting from the tightening of the company’s spreads, compared to -$256 million in the prior year. DJ30 +66.60 NASDAQ -16.42 SP500 +0.52 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1159/501.7 mln/1191 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1594/193.0 mln/1290
10:30 am : Apple (AAPL 590.42, -14.81) is showing notable relative weakness amid a generally stronger market. Apple shares are now -2.5% and at a new four-week low, weighing on the technology sector. So far the move doesn’t appear to be related to a specific fundamental catalyst. In addition to Apple, Google (GOOG 607.64, -16.96) has moved below its 50-day moving avearges in early trade, continuing last Friday’s negative reaction to earnings and adding pressure to the tech sector. Overall, the technology sector, as measured by the Nasdaq 100, is down 0.9% versus a 0.2% decline in the broader S&P 500.DJ30 +59.75 NASDAQ -29.97 SP500 -2.27 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 844/401.4 mln/1468 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1275/158.0 mln/1581
10:05 am : Just released, business inventories for February increased by 0.6%, which is slightly greater than the 0.5% increase that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com.
Meanwhile, The Housing Market Index for April fell to 25 from 28 in the prior month, exceeding the Briefing.com consensus call for an improvement to 29. The drop was the first in seven months for the index. Shares of homebuilders have been hit hard on the news, resulting in a quick drop to session lows by the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 20.65, -0.08). DJ30 +77.50 NASDAQ -25.14 SP500 -0.11 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 982/242.7 mln/1241 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1556/105.8 mln/1242
09:45 am : The major averages are seeing solid gains in the opening minutes of trade, buoyed by the better than expected retail sales data. The Dow is leading this morning’s climb with a 0.9% advance while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq trail with respective gains of 0.4% and 0.2%. Financials are the top performing sector, trading up 1.2%, despite the earnings miss by Citigroup.DJ30 +109.74 NASDAQ +6.02 SP500 +6.09 NASDAQ Vol 107.0 mln NYSE Vol 67.1 mln
09:13 am : [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +7.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +15.00. Equity futures are trading at their best levels of the session following the strong retail sales figures, and despite the weak Empire Manufacturing survey. S&P futures are up 9 and Dow Jones futures are higher by 90 as markets are set to open the week on a positive note. The strong open will also come on the heels of disappointing earnings from Citigroup, which announced earnings of $0.95 per share on revenues of $19.41 billion. The Capital IQ Consensus Estimate was calling for earnings of $1.00 per share on revenues of $19.94 billion. Data still to be released today includes business inventories and the NAHB Housing Market Index with both due out at 10 am ET.”
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