The markets took the global lead and decided to sell off. We have pared some of the losses and Apple AKA NASDAQ 100 has gone green.
DOW down 140, NASDAQ down 35, S&P down 14, VIX up 11.24%, Gold down $8, Oil down $1.04, Dollar up .25
“1:30 pm : Stocks have flattened out in recent trade, leaving the major equity averages to continue wrestling with losses on the order of 1%.
Energy stocks, which overcame a loss of about 1.5% to trade flat, have been unable to extend their climb. Instead, the sector remains mired near the neutral line.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector is stuck near its session low with a loss of about 1.7%. Only Materials stocks are in such bad shape. DJ30 -137.78 NASDAQ -34.36 SP500 -13.87 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 485/1.00 bln/1990 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 615/380 mln/2355
1:00 pm : Stocks have been working to recover from an early slump, but broad market losses remain pronounced.
Underwhelming economic data from China and disappointing reports from Germany and France combined with renewed concerns about eurozone budgets to take a heavy toll on stocks this morning. The opening slump only slowed when the S&P 500 came in contact with its monthly closing low, which is separated from its monthly intraday low by roughly one point.
Although stocks have slowly trended higher since then, the broad market remains on pace for its poorest performance in about 10 calendar days. Energy stocks have managed to fully slash their losses in the face of such weakness. In fact, the sector has poked into positive territory for a fractional gain, even though oil prices are still down more than 1% at $102.50 per barrel. Earlier today oil prices dipped below $102 per barrel.
ConocoPhillips (COP 72.41, -0.47) hasn’t quite turned its loss into a gain, however. The stock’s lingering weakness comes after the integrated energy company announced this morning earnings that came short of what Wall Street had expected. Most other quarterly reports, including those of Brinker (EAT 30.69, +2.79) and SunTrust (STI 23.34, +0.74), bested expectations for the bottom line, but the batch hasn’t received much attention amid renewed macro concerns.
An interest in safety has helped take the dollar higher, such that the Dollar Index has held steady to a gain of about 0.4% for the day, while demand for the 10-year Treasury took its yield down to a monthly low closer to 1.90%. Gold has failed to garner buying interest, leaving prices to trade in the red for the day. DJ30 -144.29 NASDAQ -37.26 SP500 -14.82 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 495/935 mln/1955 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 615/350 mln/2335
12:30 pm : Stocks continue to steadily left off of session lows. They still have a ways to go before fully offsetting today’s losses. In fact, the S&P 500 remains on pace for its poorest single-session performance in 10 calendar days. As an aside, the broad market measure has booked only five losses of at least 1% in 2012.DJ30 -135.23 NASDAQ -33.85 SP500 -13.65 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 480/870 mln/1975 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 595/325 mln/2345
12:00 pm : The Energy sector remains on the mend. In fact, it is now flat for the day. The move higher from a loss well in excess of 1% has been led by the likes of Exxon Mobil (XOM 85.55, +0.25), Schlumberger (SLB 72.05, +0.35), and Baker Hughes (BHI 41.23, +0.77). Shares of XOM actually received an analyst upgrade this morning.DJ30 -130.89 NASDAQ -37.65 SP500 -13.89 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 405/765 mln/2015 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 520/295 mln/2405
11:30 am : The stock market is slowly working its way up from its session low, but it continues to wrestle with a loss in excess of 1%.
Although oil prices are still down nearly 2% to about $102 per barrel, Energy stocks have been faster in their attempt to rebound. The sector was down about 1.5% at its session low, but it has since slashed that loss to just 0.6%. Of the major sectors, only Telecom is in better shape; Telecom stocks are down 0.3% today.
Benefiting from the Energy sector’s upward push, shares of ConocoPhillips (COP 72.46, -0.42) have been trimming their losses after setting a monthly low in response to an earnings miss this morning. DJ30 -147.35 NASDAQ -45.95 SP500 -16.55 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 365/625 mln/2015 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 440/250 mln/2445
11:00 am : The S&P 500 appears to have stabilized. Its descent steadied when it came in contact with its monthly closing low of 1358, or within roughly one point of its monthly intraday low of 1357. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite recently extended its slide to notch a new monthly low, but it still has a way to go before a test of its two-month low of 2900 becomes something to monitor.DJ30 -138.19 NASDAQ -50.91 SP500 -16.61 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 325/530 mln/2040 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 390/210 mln/2480
10:30 am : Overall weakness in the commodity complex has the CRB Index down 0.9%. Its slide comes as an extension of the downtrend that has taken it lower in five consecutive weeks for a cumulative decline of more than 5%.
Gold has failed to garner buying interest, despite its defensive characteristics. The yellow metal was last quoted with a 0.8% loss at $1629.70 per ounce. Silver is in even worse shape; it was last quoted with a 3.3% loss at $30.61 per ounce.
Crude oil futures prices are down 1.8% to $102.05 per barrel after recently slipping below a mark of $102 per barrel.
Although most of the commodity complex is contending with concerted selling pressure, natural gas prices have pushed up sharply to $1.98 per MMBtu for a 2.6% gain. The energy component is only fractionally shy of its session high. DJ30 -168.62 NASDAQ -45.34 SP500 -18.41 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 280/335 mln/2035 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 335/150 mln/2490
10:00 am : Aggressive selling continues to keep stocks down with sharp losses.
Materials stocks are being punished the most among the major sectors. Their 2.3% loss comes as steel stocks slump and shares of diversified metals and miners get cut down. Gold stocks are also being punished as the price of the precious metal drops nearly 1% to just under $1630 per ounce, despite its defensive characteristics. DJ30 -166.75 NASDAQ -48.95 SP500 -18.65 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 290/175 mln/1960 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 350/95 mln/2415
09:45 am : The major equity averages are all down in excess of 1% as a concerted selling effort takes hold of stocks. Financials, Materials, Energy, and Industrials are in the worst shape — each sector is down roughly 1.5% or more.
Telecom stocks, which displayed relative strength last week, are holding up relatively well in the face of widespread weakness. More specifically, the sector has managed to limit its loss to only 0.3%, thanks to support from integrated telecom plays. UK-based global telecommunications outfit Vodafone (VOD 27.76, +0.07) is actually sporting a gain. DJ30 -133.73 NASDAQ -32.25 SP500 -14.95 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec NA/NA/NA NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec NA/NA/NA”
If you enjoy the content at iBankCoin, please follow us on Twitter
