14:30 ET Dow +26, Nasdaq +6, S&P +1.82: [BRIEFING.COM] It's still a light volume day but it now carries a very slight bias to the
upside. Both the Nasdaq and the Dow continue to trade near the flatline which also approximates opening levels for today's session (i.e.
there weren't substantial gaps in either direction). Price action of this sort is indicative of indecision in the markets and a close near current
levels would be closely watched by market technicians. When opening and closing levels match this is frequently (but not always)
a precursor to a trend reversal. DJTA -0.4%... DJUA -1.1%... SOX -0.2%... XOI +0.3%... BTK -0.6%... Nasdaq 100 -0.5%... S&P
Midcap 400 -0.4%... Russell 2000 -0.1%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1516/1477... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1897/1828.
14:00 ET Dow -3, Nasdaq -3, S&P -1.59: [BRIEFING.COM] The indices have seen mild buy interest since the last update.
Nonetheless, the markets continue to trade in negative territory in a session that could be characterized as listless. The spot price of crude oil
continues to drop with the per barrel price down 38 cents (-1.4%) to $27.98 in today's session. This follows the surprising jump in
inventories reported last week which has the markets focused on the supply side of the market. In light of the inventories data, OPEC looks
less likely to increase output anytime soon. Comments today from Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister indicate the coalition is putting a damper on
market expectations for increased production. On the broader markets, buy interest continues to carry a defensive posture as gold and
health care are higher on the day. The interest rate sensitive homebuilding group also continues to demonstrate notable strength. The next
FOMC policy directive is due out on May 15 and the markets continue to grapple with just how agressively the Fed will ease. DJTA
-0.5%... DJUA -1.1%... SOX -0.5%... XOI +0.7%... BTK -1.0%... Nasdaq 100 -1.0%... S&P Midcap 400 -0.5%... Russell 2000
-0.2%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1420/1529... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1806/1860.
13:30 ET Dow -39, Nasdaq -13, S&P -5.39: [BRIEFING.COM] To this point in the trading session we have yet to see real conviction on
either side of the market. Nonetheless, the major indices continue to drift in modestly negative ground. Financials are serving to drag on
both the Dow and the broader markets (S&P Financials -0.8%). Contributing to sector weakness is sell pressure on Dow component JP
Morgan Chase (JPM -3.0%). Prudential has downgraded JPM to Sell from Hold on concerns that a slowing economy could lead to a rise
in bad loans. This raises a separate but similar issue financial institutions face in a falling interest rate environment. There is a contrarian view
which contends a pronounced decline in interest rates hurts financial institutions by reducing the quality of their loan base. The theory is that a
decline in rates forces institutions to take on higher interest rate clients (higher risk) in order to retain the differential on borrowed vs. loaned
funds. Under this view, financials take a double hit in a weak economy as the incidence of loan defaults increases while the quality of the
institutions loan portfolio decreases. DJTA -0.6%... DJUA -1.0%... SOX -0.6%... XOI +0.1%... BTK -0.8%... Nasdaq 100 -0.8%...
S&P Midcap 400 -0.5%... Russell 2000 -0.2%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1427/1497... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1822/1808. |
