09:20 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Not much buying enthusiasm in pre-market activity as the futures trade continues near its worst levels of the morning... The S&P futures, at 1261, are 10 points below fair value while the Nasdaq 100 futures, at 1932, are 41 points below fair value and lock-limit down... The initial claims data, released a short time ago, brought the 4-wk moving average to 405K-- the highest level since Oct. 1992... Rising trend bodes very poorly for employment growth...We get a view of April payrolls tomorrow which may leave back to back declines and yet another suggestion that the economy is in, or on the brink of recession... Expectation for a weak start has led to an extension of losses in European trading where most bourses are now down at least 1.5%... Restaurant stocks likely to be a pocket of weakness here after Bear Stearns downgraded Jack In the Box (JBX 26.12) and Wendy's (WEN 25.55) due to increasing concerns about operating costs in the quick service sector of the restaurant industry; Applebee's (APPB 42.60) was downgraded at Banc of America Securities due to its proximity to firm's $45 price target.
08:35 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Cash market is poised for a weak beginning as the S&P futures, at 1259, are 13 points below fair value... An equivalent loss in the Dow would be 110-115 points... Nasdaq 100 futures, at 1937, are 36 points below fair value... Weak tone is a carryover from European trading where losses among the technology and telecom issues have most bourses down a little more than 1.0%... Aside from that, it is likely that traders feel inclined to take some money off the table following the market's strong run of late... Look for Macromedia (MACR 26.58) to be among the hardest hit in the profit taking area... Following a worse than expected Q4 earnings report, MACR refused to provide any guidance on its conference call... For more information on the earnings front, be sure to visit Briefing.com's Earnings Calendar... Separately, U.S. initial jobless claims rose 9K to 421K for the week of April 28, well above the 390K consensus.
08:00 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures -8, or 9 pts below fair value; Nasdaq 100 futures -19, or 18 pts below fair value. In a followthrough from yesterday, Dow and S&P looking weak relative to the Nasdaq.
07:35 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] This morning's fair value figures -- S&P 500 fair value: 1272; closed 1 pt below fair value. Nasdaq 100 fair value: 1973; closed 1 pt above fair value. Current indications: S&P 500 futures are -7.7, or 8.7 pts below fair value. Nasdaq 100 is -25, or 24 pts below fair value... U.S. equities down in sympathy with European markets.
06:17 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures trading at 1263, 9.0 points below fair value, Nasdaq 100 futures trading at 1950, 23.0 points below fair value. The 30-year bond is up 4 ticks at 5.692%. The dollar is a tad weaker against the yen, but a tad firmer against the euro.
06:16 ET: FTSE -1.44%, DAX -1.29%: [BRIEFING.COM] European stocks under pressure with most bourses off more than 1%. Markets pressured by an underperformance of telecom shares with Ericsson, Marconi and Nokia leading the way. Sector also hit by reports from mobile phone maker Epcos of flat or even declining earnings in the third quarter on the back of sluggish handset demand. Not to be outdone, Tele Denmark, Denmark’s biggest phone company, cut its 2001 sales forecast. Also of interest, Vodafone has continued to see better selling following yesterday’s announcement that it will sell shares to purchase stakes in Japan Telecom and Spain’s Airtel.
06:15 ET Nikkei closed%, Hang Seng -0.70%: [BRIEFING.COM] Asian stocks mixed, but Japan out of the picture with the Nikkei closed today and tomorrow for the Golden Week holidays. Hong Kong stocks hit by HSBC’s announcement that it will sell as much as $24.3 bln in new shares to fund acquisitions, the standout of which was rumored to be Merrill Lynch. Oil shares also leading the way lower following a number of downgrades in the US yesterday. Stocks in Taiwan rallied almost 2% on talk of technical-related short-covering. Banks led the way higher, while the bigger semiconductor names also fare well. Korean stocks rose ever-so-slightly on another round of foreign buying interest.
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Close Dow -21.66 at 10876.68, Nasdaq +52.36 at 2220.60, S&P +0.99 at 1267.43: [BRIEFING.COM] The markets closed mixed with the Dow slightly lower on the day while the Nasdaq closed at its highest level since late February. Technology buy interest was driven by a Morgan Stanley report regarding Cisco Systems' (CSCO +12.3%) North American enterprise networking market. The firm believes that demand in this segment is showing signs of stabilization which was a driver of broad based positive sentiment across technology. Prior guidance from CSCO had been the market trough won't be for at least another three quarters. Stay tuned to see whether Morgan Stanley or CSCO is correct. Separately, communications chip maker Brocade Communications (BRCD +16.2%) announced it will meet or beat previously reduced second quarter estimates. This news contributed to buy interest in the communications semiconductor sector and helped the SOX higher by 0.6% for the day... The markets also received some positive news on the energy front. Stronger than anticipated gasoline and crude oil inventories were reported this morning which alleviated concerns over higher fuel prices during the peak Summer season. The spot price of crude dropped by nearly 4% on the day, taking the per barrel price down to $27.80. This news wasn't positive for oil-related equities however, as the XOI got hammered for a 4.1% daily loss. Separately, an afternoon report on natural gas reserves also showed higher supplies than expected. The price of natural gas fell 3.4% on this news. Falling prices for oil, gasoline and natural gas are bullish signals for business as they reduce the cost of doing business by reducing the "engergy tax".... Today's activity leaves both the Dow and the Nasdaq near key inflection points. For the Nasdaq the level to watch is 2255. This approximates the January low (2251) which at that time served as support and it also approximates a couple key retracements off downtrends from February and November highs. For the Dow, 11,000 is the level to watch as this has served as a ceiling since September of 2000. Friday's employment report is likely to influence whether these levels hold or break. For a complete list of what to expect from that report and other economic reports please visit Briefing.com's Economic Calendar. DJTA +1.9%... DJUA -2.2%... SOX +0.6%... BTK -1.3%... Nasdaq 100 +2.3%... S&P Midcap 400 -0.4%... Russell 2000 +0.2%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1553/1515... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2387/1466. |
