From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Stocks finished the first quarter in lackluster fashion, but still scored their best first quarter performance since 1998.
Buying in recent sessions helped the S&P 500 work its way to a quarterly gain of more than 5%. However, momentum was lost today as participants digested some relatively uninspiring data and showed caution ahead of tomorrow's pivotal payrolls report.
Initial jobless claims for the week ended March 26 totaled 388,000, which is down from the prior week, but slightly greater than the 383,000 initial claims that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com.
The Chicago PMI for March came in at 70.6, which is slightly stronger than the 69.5 that had been widely anticipated, but less than the prior month's figure of 71.2.
Factory orders figures for February fell 0.1% in the face of the Briefing.com consensus call for a 0.4% increase.
Late comments from Minneapolis Fed President Kocherlakota, an FOMC voting member, indicated that the Fed funds rate may need to increase by 75 basis points in late 2011. Stocks wavered a bit in response, but their movement only looked meaningful because of the session's narrow trading range.
Stocks lacked leadership all session long. Energy stocks displayed strength in the early going, but retreated to a 0.3% loss, even though oil prices pushed past $106 per barrel to a new two-year high. Oil prices in the continuous contract gained almost 17% in the first quarter.
Materials stocks and industrial stocks scored a 0.4% gains, collectively, but neither has the weight to provide a broader lift.
Financials fell 0.4% in one of the poorest sector performances. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B 83.63, -1.83) was a key source of weakness after the company announced the resignation of David Sokol, who many had considered to be a possible successor for Warren Buffett.
Mosaic (MOS 78.75, -1.70) and CarMax (KMX 32.10, -2.49) both battled selling pressure, too. Both posted better-than-expected earnings.
Although participants exercised restraint ahead of the tomorrow's jobs report, the end of the quarter brought about a slight increase in share volume as investors moved to reposition portfolios. In turn, trading volume on the NYSE exceeded 1 billion shares for the first time in over a week.
Advancing Sectors: Industrials (+0.4%), Materials (+0.4%)
Unchanged: Telecom, Health Care
Declining Sectors: Consumer Staples (-0.3%), Energy (-0.3%), Utilties (-0.3%), Tech (-0.3%), Financials (-0.4%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.4%)DJ30 -30.88 NASDAQ +4.28 NQ100 +0.1% R2K +0.4% SP400 +0.4% SP500 -2.43 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1494/1.91 bln/1117 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1746/1.08 bln/1241
4:03PM Aehr Test Systems has received an order for a FOX-15 WaferPak cartridge from a communication equipment manufacturer (AEHR) 2.10 -0.94 : This is the first WaferPak cartridge ordered by this customer and it is scheduled to ship during calendar year 2011.
8:09AM Chipmos Technology provides notice of early redemption to holders of 3.375% Convertible Senior Notes due 2011 (IMOS) 8.76 : Co announces it provided notice to the holders of its outstanding $2.26 mln of 3.375% Convertible Senior Notes due 2011 of the co's election to redeem all of the Holders' Notes with effect as of May 3, 2011.
07:24 am Intel ests and tgt cut to $25 at FBR Capital Mkts following PC checks: . FBR notes checks with the top six notebook ODMs have deteriorated of late, with 1Q notebook builds downticking slightly from -10.5% QOQ to -11% QOQ, and with 2Q builds downticking from an optimistic +15% QOQ (which FBR said was likely to be reduced) to +7% QOQ, worse than expected. For Intel, FBR is cutting its financial estimates slightly due to its inclusion of McAfee-related amortization of intangible expenses, and as firm shaves another point from its Intel 2011 unit growth forecast, which now stands at +7% YOY (excluding Intel's 14th week in 1Q11). FBR thinks INTC can trade in a range of $19-$24 in 2011. 2011 GAAP EPS estimate from $2.10 to $2.05, its 2012 estimate from $2.20 to $2.15 ($2.04/$2.20), and its target from $27 to $25, an 11x P/E multiple, low but reflective of PC unit growth challenges. |
