10:00 ET Dow +50, Nasdaq +36, S&P +5.84: [BRIEFING.COM] Market catching its breath after staging an expeditious advance off the opening lows; however, the bullish bias remains intact as traders have shown an inclination to buy dips... Also noteworthy that the participation in the early advance has been rather broad-based and that notable losses are limited mostly to individual stocks... The technology issues are pacing the gains with telecom equipment, semiconductor, and software shares among the frontrunners... Major indices ar at, or near, their highs for the session with retail, paper, and gold stocks providing some added support for the broader market... Leading Indicators due to be released any minute... Consensus expectations are for a 0.1% gain... NYSE Adv/Dec 1597/881... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2044/862.
09:45 ET Dow +42, Nasdaq +29, S&P +6.56: [BRIEFING.COM] As expected, the cash market started the day on a relatively mixed note, but selling activity was contained with the tech stocks providing some influential leadership... CIENA (CIEN +2.25) started the session in red figures, but quickly rebounded and has helped fuel the buying interest... Dow is more than 70 points off its opening lows as traders were quick to buy the initial dip... In the broader market, HMO and homebuilding are the only real laggards of note from an industry standpoint... Nasdaq 100 +1.8%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1405/826... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1783/863.
09:20 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Futures fade continues as the S&P futures, up 0.20 points this morning, are now a smidge above fair value while the Nasdaq PMI is up just 1 point now... Ironically, CIENA (CIEN 58.90), whose better than expected earnings report acted as a bullish catalyst for the futures trade earlier, prompted the pullback after indicating on its conference call that it expects gross margins to be down 100 bp in the July qtr (were 45.6% in Apr qtr) due to what it calls "desperate" pricing measures by some of its competitors... At the moment then, expectations are for a relatively mixed beginning for the cash market... Separately, look for the HMO issues to be laggards today in the wake of a Prudential downgrade of PHSY, OHP, AET and HNT to HOLD from Strong Buy... Retailers should be a source of support, though, after Ann Taylor (ANN 36.40) and Kmart (KM 10.13) both topped consensus estimates and Wall Street firms upgraded ANN, TOO and FTUS.
08:50 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Pre-market activity continues to be supportive for the cash market as the S&P futures are 1.7 points above fair value while the Nasdaq 100 Pre-Market Indicator (PMI) is +20... Bullish bias stemming from the enthusiasm surrounding yesterday's rally, better than expected earnings from CIENA (CIEN 58.90), solid gains in overseas markets, and Citigroup's (C 51.79) $12.5 bln acquisition of Bannaci, Mexico's No. 2 banking group... Have seen a modest dip in the futures trade following a report that initial claims fell 8K to 380K in the week of May 12... There has been some chatter that the decline in claims will diminish the Fed's need to continue to cut rates aggressively, however, Briefing.com disagrees with that contention as we would argue the 4-week average of 401K reminds us of the high level of claims and the continued trend higher as layoffs mount and the economy fails to improve.
08:20 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Early enthusiasm persists in the futures market as the S&P futures, at 1294, are 6 points above fair value while the Nasdaq 100 futures, at 1933, are 27 points above fair value... CIENA's (CIEN 58.90) stronger than expected earnings report and Citigroup's (C 51.79) $12.5 bln acquisition of Mexico's Grupo Financiero Banamex-Acival (aka "Banacci") are among the developments drawing the most attention this morning.
07:55 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Indications for a positive open for the cash market remain intact as the S&P futures are 2.6 points above fair value while the Nasdaq 100 futures are 20 points above fair value... CIENA's (CIEN 58.90) better than expected earnings report, solid gains in overseas markets, and continued enthusiasm following yesterday's rally are acting as the main drivers behind the bullish leaning.
07:25 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] This morning's fair value figures -- S&P 500 fair value: 1288; closed even with fair value. Nasdaq 100 fair value: 1906; closed 9 pts below fair value. Current indications: S&P 500 futures are +4.3, or 4.3 pts above fair value. Nasdaq 100 is +35, or 26 pts above fair value... Nasdaq futures rally in reaction to CIEN report; company beats on top and bottom lines, while also maintaining growth forecasts for the yr (talk in market had been that CIEN would be less bullish in its outlook).
06:07 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures trading at 1287, 1.0 points below fair value, Nasdaq 100 futures trading at 1890.50, 15.5 points below fair value. The 30-year bond is up 6 ticks at 5.837%. The dollar is weaker against most of the major currencies.
06:06 ET: FTSE +1.25%, DAX +0.65%: [BRIEFING.COM] European stocks also boosted by yesterday’s rally on Wall Street. Portfolios shifting out of defensive names and into semiconductor, phone equipment and mobile phone shares. Blue-chips such as Nokia, Ericsson and Philipps all outperforming.. France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom boosted by news of a share offer for their stakes in Sprint.
06:06 ET Nikkei +1.58%, Hang Seng +2.26%: [BRIEFING.COM] Asian stocks higher on the back of a follow the leader mentality surrounding the US. Export shares fare well across the region on hopes of that the US will resume its status as the consumer/importer of last resort. Japan up 1.58% with Toyota leading the way on favorable sales expectations going forward. Korea rose more than 4% with locals and foreigners scooping up blue-chip issues. Semiconductor shares led Taiwan higher, while technology also provided a boost for Singapore. |
