Close Dow +39.30 at 10911.94, Nasdaq +26.10 at 2110.60, S&P +7.76 at 1255.84: [BRIEFING.COM] A change of recent pace for the market as it traded with a positive bias for most of the session and ended the day with modest gains... In doing so, the Nasdaq and S&P snapped their losing streak at three... Fittingly, today's gains were driven by a blend of strength between the tech stocks and the cyclical shares... The former were bolstered by a couple of factors that included some month-end buying and some bargain hunting activity following three straight days of losses... Meanwhile, it was likely that the cyclical stocks found some favor due to their low volatility, which is attractive during earnings warnings season, and an expectation that they will be in a good position to benefit from an economic rebound as the Fed continues to cut rates... Following an 8K increase in initial claims for the week of May 26, a weaker than expected Chicago PMI report, and comments from Dallas Fed President, McTeer, who thinks Q2 growth should be around zero and that unemployment should rise due to current levels being unsustainable, investors had every reason to believe the Fed would continue its easing ways at the June FOMC meeting... That realization, along with month-end buying, propped up the Treasury market today, too... The long-bond finished with a gain of nearly one point, lowering its yield to 5.77%... Tomorrow, investors will be provided with added insight into the Fed's likely course of action when the details of the employment report and the NAPM Index for May are released... For added perspective on those reports, be sure to visit Briefing.com's Economic Calendar... As for today's action, it was characterized by broad-based participation that saw the oil drilling, transport, bank, basic materials, Internet, software, biotech, chip and chip equipment stocks outperform... Separately, it is worth noting that the semiconductor group ended the day on a bit of a disappointing note as the SOX Index faded into the close, unable to penetrate its 50-day simple moving average at 608-- a pivotal barrier over the last several months... Coincidentally, the Nasdaq, and the other indices, faded into the close as well... The Dow's gain was led by United Technologies (UTX +1.61) and 3M (MMM +1.23) DJTA +1.5%... DJUA +1.2%... SOX +2.2%... DOT +3.0%... BTK +2.9%... Nasdaq 100 +1.2%... S&P Midcap 400 +1.3%... Russell 2000 +0.5%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1822/1236... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2258/1591.
15:30 ET Dow +59, Nasdaq +44, S&P +10.44: [BRIEFING.COM] Indices are off their highs, but holding on to the bulk of today's gains with the session nearing its end... The resilience of the tech stocks, and the strong showing from the cyclical shares, have been the highlights to this point... Within the tech sector, the semiconductor-related stocks have been among the best performers... At the moment, the SOX Index is up 3.5% and is just shy of its 50-day simple moving average at 608... The latter has proven to be a pivotal barrier over the last several months... Penetration on a closing basis bolsters the outlook for follow through buying interest... As a reminder, Novellus Systems (NVLS +2.00) will be providing its mid-quarter update after the close... NYSE Adv/Dec 1963/1084... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2354/1420.
15:00 ET Dow +71, Nasdaq +50, S&P +11.48: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity market is bouncing back from a modest bout of selling interest... An encouraging performance from the tech sector, the lack of any major warnings, an expectation for further Fed easing, and broad-based participation in the advance are among the bullish catalysts providing the market with support today... With respect to earnings warnings, Oracle (ORCL +1.29) has been cited often as a likely candidate to announce an impending shortfall, yet Briefing.com has heard that an unconfirmed rumor making the rounds on trading floors today is that Oracle received a large contract that will help the company make its quarter... That would help explain the stock's surge today which follows on the heels of USB Piper Jaffray cutting its FY01 and FY02 EPS estimates before the start of trading... DJTA +1.4%... SOX +3.8%... Nasdaq 100 +2.8%... S&P Midcap 400 +1.6%... Russell 2000 +1.3%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1941/1084... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2352/1387.
14:30 ET Dow +70, Nasdaq +48, S&P +10.72: [BRIEFING.COM] Afternoon rally has stalled, but the indices continue to show solid gains... Interestingly, the equity rally hasn't detracted interest from the bond market... While month-end buying has been a supportive factor for the bond today, it is also reasonable to conclude that the bond's strength may be a prognosticator of an ugly employment report tomorrow... Briefing.com is expecting a 90K decline in nonfarm pyrolls and a 4.6% unemployment rate (consensus is -25K and 4.6% respectively)... For added detail on our employment outlook, be sure to visit Briefing.com's Economic Calendar... In addition to the jobs data, the NAPM Index will also be released tomorrow... The outlook for the NAPM worsened slightly with the declines in both the Chicago PMI and the Phil Fed index... Consequently, investors should be mindful that the market will be susceptible tomorrow to the possibility of a double whammy in terms of discouraging economic news... NYSE Adv/Dec 1923/1075... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2304/1387.
14:00 ET Dow +72, Nasdaq +48, S&P +10.44: [BRIEFING.COM] After cooling their jets the past few sessions, the bulls are back in action and are governing the pace of today's trade... The bears, by in large, haven't held much sway to this point as the drag created by today's weak industry groups has been more than offset by the strength in influential groups such as tech, transportation, oil drilling and brokerage... A strong showing from cyclical areas like paper, aluminum, chemical and steel is providing added support for the broader market as well... With the market having gained some traction this afternoon, and a positive bias shining through, one can't rule out the possibility of the Dow making, at least, one serious test of the 11,000 level before the close... DJTA +1.5%... Nasdaq 100 +3.0%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1957/1041... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2277/1337.
13:30 ET Dow +78, Nasdaq +47, S&P +10.83: [BRIEFING.COM] Market tone is shaping up as the indices have hit new session highs... Dow is within striking distance of 11,000 as it currently trades less than 50 points from that important psychological level... Good leadership in today's trade with the afternoon surge being helped by renewed buying interest among the financial, transport and oil drilling shares... Gains in those areas, combined with an encouraging rebound in the tech sector, have prompted some short covering that has given the broader market an added boost... Up volume leads down volume by nearly a 5-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq and nearly a 3-to-1 margin at the NYSE which underscores today's positive bias... NYSE Adv/Dec 1907/1059... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2224/1348.
13:00 ET Dow +63, Nasdaq +41, S&P +8.90: [BRIEFING.COM] Maybe traders felt challenged by our last comment that buyers weren't showing much conviction, because the major indices have shown some considerable improvement since Briefing.com's last update, aided by program trading... The indices are all near session highs at the moment with tech, transport, telecom, and oil drilling shares leading the gains... Renewed buying interest in the latter stocks has been a key driver of the blue chip resurgence in the past half hour... Similarly, crude prices are off their lows of the session ($27.55 bbl) and are now trading at $27.90 (-$0.65)... NYSE Adv/Dec 1877/1066... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2158/1350. |
