09:45 ET Dow +45, Nasdaq +17, S&P +3.66: [BRIEFING.COM] Cash market has started the day on a positive note with initial buying interest turning out to be stronger than expected... Tech stocks are pacing the action, boosted by bargain hunting efforts following three consecutive losing sessions for the Nasdaq... Encouraging internals at the NYSE and Nasdaq as advancers lead decliners by nearly a 2-to-1 margin... Nasdaq 100 +0.8%... S&P Midcap 400 +1.0%... Russell 2000 +0.6%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1390/712... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1596/897.
09:10 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Bullish bias in futures trade has faded some as the jump in initial claims and a slew of cautious comments from Wall Street firms regarding earnings prospects for the likes of JDSU, CPQ, ALTR, XLNX and ORCL have weighed on sentiment... Continued revision of EPS estimates serving as a reminder that the earnings environment remains fairly bleak, and consequently, traders are finding reason to question the extent of the rally from the April lows... Jump in initial claims fueling some concerns about the lag effect of a consumer slowdown and is a bearish indicator ahead of tomorrow's employment report... Presently, the S&P futures, at 1253, are 4 points above fair value while the Nasdaq Pre-Market Indicator is up just 3 points which is leading to expectations for a relatively mixed start for the cash market...
08:35 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] A positive tone in the futures trade this morning as a lack of major earnings warnings since yesterday's close has prompted some bullish posturing... Presently, the S&P futures, at 1254, are 5 points above fair value while the Nasdaq Pre-Market Indicator is up 14 points, aided by early gains in the likes of ARBA (+6.2%), ITWO (+4.3%), RNWK (+5.6%), and USAI (+5.4%)... Nonetheless, bullish enthusiasm being held in check as brokerage comments continue to be mostly negative... To wit, ABN AMRO is lowering FY01 EPS estimates for Compaq (CPQ 15.70), CIBC World Markets is downgrading JDS Uniphase (JDSU 16.94) to HOLD from Strong Buy, Bear Stearns is downgrading Charles Schwab (SCH 18.65) to ATTRACTIVE from Buy, and Merrill Lynch is trimming EPS estimates for Altera (ALTR 23.25) and Xilinx (XLNX 41.24)... Separately, initial claims rose 8K to 419K, but has not had much of an impact on the early action.
08:20 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Positive bias remains intact as the S&P futures, at 1254, remain 5 points above fair value; meanwhile, the Nasdaq Pre-Market Indicator is up 15 points
07:55 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures, at 1254, are 5 points above fair value while the Nasdaq 100 futures, at 1800, are 18 points above fair value... Accordingly, the cash market is expected to start the day on a modestly positive note... Improved tone in U.S. stock futures providing some support for European bourses which are posting modest gains at the moment.
07:35 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] This morning's fair value figures -- S&P 500 fair value: 1249; closed 1 pt above fair value. Nasdaq 100 fair value: 1782; closed 3 pts above fair value. Current indications: S&P 500 futures are +5, or 6 pts above fair value. Nasdaq 100 is +17.5, or 20.5 pts above fair value... Absence of any major earnings warning last night leading to slightly positive tone.
06:19 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures trading at 1254.50, 5.5 points over fair value, Nasdaq 100 futures trading at 1798, 16.0 points over fair value. The 30-year bond is unchanged at 5.841%. The dollar is sharply lower against the yen, but stronger against the euro.
06:18 ET: FTSE -0.20%, DAX +0.59%: [BRIEFING.COM] European stocks mixed. Firmer tone in US stock futures offers some help. Technology still pressured, with telecoms and telecom equipment makers underperforming following the recent surprise profit warning from Alcatel. Some good news however, as Allianz has pushed higher with its promise of billions of euros in savings and extra revenues with the takeover of Dresdner Bank. Export-oriented shares also boosted by continued euro weakness.
06:17 ET Nikkei -1.71%, Hang Seng -1.83%: [BRIEFING.COM] Asian stocks hit by technology carnage. Nasdaq lost more than 4% yesterday. Nikkei lost 1.7% with telecoms weighed down by Deutsche Securities’ decision to cut its investment ratings on Japan Telecom and NTT following downgrades on 13 Japanese tech firms on Wednesday. Korea’s Kospi plunged 2.6% amid reports that GM offered just KRW1 tln to takeover ailing car maker Daewoo Motor. Hang Seng down 1.8%, its seventh straight day of losses.
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Close Dow -166.50 at 10872.64, Nasdaq -91.04 at 2084.50, S&P -19.85 at 1248.08: [BRIEFING.COM] It was not a good day for the equity markets. The major averages opened lower and extended those losses throughout the day. Investors were brought back around to concerns over the macroeconomic environment in light of a few new developments on the corporate earnings front. A cautious outlook from Sun Microsystems (SUNW -13.0%) was the primary driver of today's sell pressure. SUNW's current quarter warning was severe as management indicated the company would be "just barely above break even on a GAAP basis". On the topline, SUNW now expects to come in 8% to 12% short versus prior expectations... Separately, Morgan Stanley was out this morning negative on optical issues. Citing concerns that capital spending may not ramp again until the third quarter of 2002, the firm downgraded optical networkers Nortel Networks (NT -8.7%), JDS Uniphase (JDSU -11.6%), Tellabs (TLAB -9.2%), and Sycamore Networks (SCMR -12.1%). In conjunction with the SUNW warning, Morgan Stanley's concerns over optical networkers had investors questioning the timing of an economic recovery. If it looks like the recovery is a year or further out, then buyers will clearly be less aggressive until the picture becomes more clear... From a technical perspective, Briefing.com believes today's market action does not bode well for the very near term. The Dow closed well under support at 11,000 -- a level it had not breached since May 15. Separately, the Nasdaq closed under support at 2,100 yet did manage to maintain a posture over 2,077 -- by a hair. That level has been the low water mark since the Fed's most recent easing. DJTA -0.7%... DJUA +0.2%... SOX -6.0%... XOI -0.3%... BTK -3.4%... Nasdaq 100 -5.1%... S&P Midcap 400 -2.0%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1082/1978... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1078/2724. |
