From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Trade was mostly choppy Tuesday, but the session finished on a strong note as the Dow and S&P 500 climbed in the final hour to close near their highs of the day.
The euro proved to be the primary catalyst for stocks. As has been the case in recent sessions its gains gave a lift to the major equity averages and its pullbacks prompted sellers to apply pressure. The euro had traded with weakness overnight amid calls from Fitch that the United Kingdom's fiscal challenge is formidable and that a strong, medium term consolidation strategy is warranted. However, the euro was able to rebound and net a gain of roughly 0.3% at $1.196 after oscillating for most of the session.
A lack of clear direction among stocks in the early going saw the Dow drop below its May low so that it set its worst level since November. Exxon Mobil (XOM 61.24, +1.94) helped lead the blue chip index to a gain of more than 100 points after it had been down more than 50 points at its session low. Strength in shares of XOM also gave the broader energy sector a 1.9% gain even after analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded deepwater drillers like Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO 56.94, -2.27) and Transocean (RIG 46.33, -2.84), both of which fell to fresh 52-week lows.
While all 10 major sectors in the S&P 500 advanced, materials stocks had some of the best gains. The sector spiked 2.5% as gold stocks attracted additional support after gold bullion prices propelled to a new record high of $1252.10 per ounce. Gold prices settled pit trade with a 0.4% gain at $1246.50 per ounce.
Tech stocks lagged for the entire session, but they managed to rally to a fractional gain in the final minutes of trade. Still, that wasn't enough to lift the tech-rich Nasdaq to higher ground. Instead, the Nasdaq logged another loss as it trailed its counterparts for the second straight session.
Lingering weakness in the Nasdaq has caused it to shed almost 6% since the selloff that followed an underwhelming jobs report this past Friday. Meanwhile, gains this session for the Dow and S&P 500 have left them down little more than 3% and almost 4%, respectively, since that report.
Amid concerns about the implications of a stubbornly weak job market, Fed Chairman Bernanke stated in a speech last night that unemployment is expected to remain high, but that economic conditions continue improve at a moderate pace. Bernanke's comments were consistent with what has been communicated via the minutes of recent FOMC meeting and offered some reassurance to those wary of a double-dip recession.
Treasuries had a weak session. The benchmark 10-year Note fell 10 ticks so that its yield was lifted to 3.18%. Results from an auction of 3-year Notes did little to spur interest in the space. The bid-to-cover came in at 3.2, which is above recent averages, but at $116.3 billion the auction's dollar demand was the second weakest result over the past eight auctions.
Advancing Sectors: Materials (+2.5%), Telecom (+2.1%), Financials (+2.0%), Energy (+1.9%), Consumer Staples (+1.5%), Utilities (+1.3%), Industrials (+1.0%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.8%), Health Care (+0.2%), Tech (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: (None) DJ30 +123.49 NASDAQ -3.33 NQ100 -0.1% R2K -0.1% SP400 +0.6% SP500 +11.53 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1059/2.65 bln/1567 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1836/1.65 bln/1209
5:16PM FSI International announces proposed public offering of its common stock (FSII) 3.23 -0.14 : FSII announced that the co intends to offer shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. The co intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate and working capital purposes. Briefing.com note: Co does not specify how many shares.
4:30PM Texas Instruments sees Q2 EPS in the range of $0.60-0.64; sees revenues in the range of $3.45-3.59 bln (TXN) 109.71 +0.55 : Original outlook for Q2 was EPS in the range of $0.56-0.64 and revenues between $3.31-3.59 bln. Thomson Reuters consensus EPS $0.61 and revenues $3.468 bln.
3:00PM SMTC Corp adopts rights plan to preserve valuable tax assets potentially worth up to $2 per share (SMTX) 3.46 -0.12 : Co adopted a tax benefits preservation shareholder rights plan to protect ~$100 million in U.S. federal net operating loss carry-forwards (NOLs). The rights plan is designed to deter stock accumulations exceeding 4.9%. The Board remains open to considering all alternatives to maximize shareholder value.
9:01AM Tegal receives repeat order for Tegal 4200 SE Cluster Tool Silicon DRIE Process Module (TGAL) 0.88 :
8:35AM Diodes raises Q2 rev guidance due to increasing demand worldwide; co also raises Q2 gross margin guidance (DIOD) 17.41 : Co raises guidance for Q2 (Jun), sees Q2 (Jun) revs of $147-151 mln vs. $144.92 mln Thomson Reuters consensus, up from $143-148 mln previously, due to increasing demand for the co's products in its worldwide markets. The co is also raising its Q2 gross margin guidance due to gross profit growing faster than the revenue increase; sees Q2 GM of 35-36% vs ~34.9% previously.
8:01AM GT Solar Announces $70+ Million Polysilicon Equipment Contract with Large Asian Manufacturer (SOLR) 5.17 : Co announced that it has signed contracts with a total value of more than $70 million with a leading Asian polysilicon manufacturer for new CVD equipment and related polysilicon production services.
SunPower (SPWRA) announced that it is building a 9.1-megawatt solar power plant in Alange, Badajoz, Spain for the Naturener Group. SunPower will also provide operations and maintenance services under the agreement with Naturener... |
