There was plenty of excitement in the early-going today, but beyond then, there was plenty of boredom... As for the excitement, it was generated by a number of favorable forces, namely a surprise 25bp rate cut by the European Central Bank, a Morgan Stanley upgrade of the chip equipment group, and several retailers reporting better than expected same-store sales results... This combination prompted a bullish response in the futures trade that set the table for a solidly higher open for the cash market... Sure enough, it wasn't long after the opening bell that the Dow was up more than 100 points and the Nasdaq was up more than 40... Leading that charge were the retail and semiconductor stocks... Although the former stayed strong throughout the day, the latter eventually wavered in the wake of some caustic comments from other Wall Street firms regarding Morgan Stanley's bullish call on the chip equipment group... Incidentally, Morgan Stanley suggested that "the train has left the station," and that it sees upside of 40% or more over the next 12-18 months... In a nutshell, the other firms said there is still some near-term downside risk and suggested using signs of strength as a selling opportunity... Those cautious comments started to filter out shortly after the start of trading, and for the remainder of the session, the Nasdaq and the SOX Index spent the day in a slow drift lower... That weakness weighed on the broader market, along with weakness in the drug, oil, and telecom stocks... Their lackluster showing notwithstanding, the Dow managed to end with a modest gain while the S&P basically finished unchanged.... That resilience was due to the outperformance of the retail stocks and a number of other economically-sensitive groups like railroad, homebuilding, chemical, paper, aluminum, and steel... Modest gains in the brokerage and banking shares provided an added measure of support as well... Pacing the Dow's advance were United Technologies (UTX +1.98), Wal-Mart (WMT +1.83) and Caterpillar (CAT +1.43)... The market's focus tomorrow will be on a batch of economic data that includes Retail Sales, PPI, and the Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index... Traders will be watching the data closely to glean some sense of the Fed's likely course of action at Tuesday's FOMC meeting... Briefing.com expects another 50 bp ease and further easing at the June meeting... DJTA +1.2%... SOX +0.03%... BTK -2.8%... Nasdaq 100 -2.1%... S&P Midcap 400 +0.1%... Russell 2000 +0.1%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1856/1219... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1876/1924.
15:30 ET Dow +55, Nasdaq -20, S&P +1.01: [BRIEFING.COM] Little change in today's action as the major indices remain confined to narrow trading ranges; however, the Nasdaq is at its lows for the session... As noted earlier, the market's focus tomorrow will be on a batch of economic data that includes Retail Sales, PPI, and the Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index... Traders will be watching the data closely to glean some sense of the Fed's likely course of action at Tuesday's FOMC meeting... Briefing.com expects another 50 bp ease and further easing at the June meeting... NYSE Adv/Dec 1868/1192... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1915/1888.
15:00 ET Dow +40, Nasdaq -18, S&P +0.03: [BRIEFING.COM] A mixed market persists with a lackluster performance from the tech, oil, and drug groups acting as a restraining influence on the broader market... Semiconductor and biotech issues have been a primary driver of the Nasdaq's afternoon weakness... Overall, there just isn't much leadership at the moment for the tech sector... The chip equipment stocks are holding up relatively well, but they have come off their highs as Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and CS First Boston have all thrown water on the fire stoked by Morgan Stanley's bullish call for the group before the start of trading... Retail is one area that hasn't moved far from its highs as better than expected same-store sales results for a number of retailers has prompted some sector rotation... SOX +0.7%... XOI -0.4%... BTK -2.6%... Nasdaq 100 -1.4%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1853/1173... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1922/1833.
14:35 ET Dow +54, Nasdaq -11, S&P +1.72: [BRIEFING.COM] Market has struggled to get anything going in the afternoon session as investors have been lacking conviction... That point is made clear in the relatively light volume at the NYSE and Nasdaq.... Moreover, the 11,000 level continues to be a significant area of resistance for the Dow... Earlier today, the blue chip average reached 10979, but couldn't muster the strength necessary to push through the psychological barrier as the pullback in the tech sector took some steam out of the broader market... The inability to do so likely disheartened a number of investors... Next week will be a telling period as traders will be watching for additional Fed easing to be the catalyst that prompts a sustained break of the 11,000 level... If resistance holds at 11,000 after a 50bp easing, Briefing.com would expect more aggressive selling activity to ensue... NYSE Adv/Dec 1799/1194... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1921/1776.
14:00 ET Dow +89, Nasdaq +4, S&P +6.35: [BRIEFING.COM] The broader market remains mixed, and outside the retail sector, trading has been fairly lackluster... Nonetheless, bulls have to be feeling pretty good about the market's performance of late as it has digested bad news without much concern, clinging to an expectation that the worst has passed for capital spending slowdowns and layoff announcements... The Fed's aggressive easing actions, the surprising rate cut by the ECB today, new leadership in Japan, and an impending tax cut are among the factors feeding their optimism... Earlier today, the Senate approved a budget plan that paves the way for a 10-yr, $1.35 tln tax cut... DJTA +1.2%... SOX +2.6%... Nasdaq 100 +0.1%... S&P Midcap 400 +0.5%... Russell 2000 +0.5%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1833/1140... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1980/1668. |
