| | | From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The major averages started the week on a quiet note with the S&P 500 shedding less than a point. To be fair, the slight downtick was a function of some profit taking after the benchmark index registered six consecutive gains.
Equity indices started the day in the red and maintained narrow ranges throughout the session. The S&P 500 tried to regain its flat line shortly after the open, but could not do so as three influential sectors weighed. Specifically, consumer staples (-0.6%), health care (-0.3%), and industrials (-0.6%) slumped out of the gate and pressured the market throughout the session.
Most notably, the industrial sector finished the trading day at the bottom of the leaderboard due to broad weakness among transport stocks. The Dow Jones Transportation Average lost 0.5% with 17 of 20 components ending in the red. The five airline stocks that comprise a portion of the index all lost more than 1.0% apiece with Southwest Airlines (LUV 26.92, -0.37) leading the retreat. Despite today's loss, the Transportation remained higher by 7.8% for the quarter.
Elsewhere, the health care sector stumbled amid relative weakness in biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 252.91, -2.73) lost 1.1%, trimming its quarter-to-date gain to 7.0%.
Like the high-beta biotech space, chipmakers also displayed relative weakness after Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 4.01, -0.09) and NVIDIA (NVDA 18.71, -0.22) were both downgraded to 'Underperform' at Pacific Crest. The two stocks lost 2.2% and 1.2%, respectively, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index slipped 0.4%.
Meanwhile, large cap tech names held up well with the likes of Microsoft (MSFT 41.99, +0.31), Google (GOOGL 574.29, +7.77), and Oracle (ORCL 41.10, +0.28) climbing between 0.7% and 1.4%. For its part, Oracle rallied after announcing the acquisition of Micros (MCRS 67.98, +2.21) for $68/share.
Similar to the technology sector (+0.3%), five of the other six cyclical groups posted modest gains. Energy (+0.4%) outperformed throughout the session even as crude oil slid 0.6% to $106.18/bbl. The commodity-linked sector extended its June gain to 6.3%, while pushing its quarter-to-date advance to 12.9%.
The slim losses in equities encouraged participants to increase their demand for volatility protection, but the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 10.97, +0.12), which rose 1.1%, still finished near multi-year lows.
Treasuries, meanwhile, did not indicate safe haven demand as the 10-yr note slipped four ticks, which pushed the benchmark yield higher by one basis point to 2.62%.
Participation remained on the light side with just under 560 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data was limited to the Existing Home Sales report for May:
- Existing home sales increased 4.9% in May to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 4.89 million from an upwardly revised 4.66 million SAAR (from 4.65 mln SAAR) in April. The Briefing.com consensus expected existing home sales to increase to 4.80 million SAAR.
- Mortgage rates, which had been moving higher for most of 2014, fell sharply over the last couple of months and helped boost sales growth, but year-over-year sales are still 5.0% below May 2013 levels.
- Purchases by first-time home buyers accounted for only 27% of all sales in May. That was down from 29% in April. First-time home buyers typically account for a third of home purchases during periods of normal sales trends.
Tomorrow, the Case-Shiller 20-city Index (Briefing.com consensus 11.6%) and FHFA Housing Price Index will both be released at 9:00 ET, while New Home Sales for May (consensus 440K) and June Consumer Confidence (consensus 84.0) will be released at 10:00 ET.
- S&P 500 +6.2% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite +4.6% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average +2.2% YTD
- Russell 2000 +1.9% YTD
DJ30 -9.82 NASDAQ +0.64 SP500 -0.26 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1213/1.59 bln/1583 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1507/559.3 mln/1530 3:35 pm :
- Crude oil natural gas futures slid lower today and closed near session lows
- Aug crude finished today's pit trading session $0.63 lower at $106.18/barrel, while July nat gas ended $0.08 to $4.45/MMBtu
- Precious metals and copper basically did the opposite
- After a sell off before floor trading, gold and silver climbed higher after hitting its low for the day there and finished just below its HoD
- Copper began higher, held gains and closed just near its HoD
- Aug gold ended $1.80 higher at $1318.40/oz, July lost $0.03 to $20.92/oz and July copper ended $0.03 higher at $3.15/lb
4:07 pm Micron beats by $0.09, beats on revs ( MU) : Reports Q3 (May) earnings of $0.79 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.09 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.70; revenues rose 71.8% year/year to $3.98 bln vs the $3.88 bln consensus.
Revenues for both DRAM and NAND Flash products were down slightly for the third quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2014. The company's overall consolidated gross margin of 34 percent for Q3 consistent with Q2, as mix-related decreases in average selling prices were essentially offset by corresponding decreases in manufacturing costs. Briefing.com note: NAND and DRAM prices were expected to be down in the high single digits.
1:01 pm Micron collaborates with Intel ( INTC) to enhance Knights Landing with a high performance, on-package memory solution ( MU) : Co announced an ongoing collaboration with Intel (INTC) to deliver an on-package memory solution for Intel's next-generation Xeon Phi processor, codenamed Knights Landing.
The memory solution is the result of a long-term effort between the two companies to break down the memory wall, leveraging the fundamental DRAM and stacking technologies also found in Micron's Hybrid Memory Cube products.
4:06 pm Applied Materials: Stockholders have approved proposed business combination with Tokyo Electron ( AMAT) : Co announces that its stockholders have approved its proposed business combination with Tokyo Electron. Approximately 99% of the shares voting at the Applied Materials special meeting of stockholders voted to adopt the parties' Business Combination Agreement, dated September 24, 2013, as amended. This represents approximately 78% of shares.
12:56 pm Notable movers of interest (:SCANX) : The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).
Large Cap Gainers
YPF (35.01 +3.70%): According to reports, co said that since it is an "independent" company, its assets cannot be embargoed by creditorsACT (222.07 +2.39%): Resumed with an Overweight at Morgan Stanley, target raised to $300 from $230DISH (62.53 +2.02%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup
Large Cap Losers - REGN (276.82 -2.96%): Continued weakness following cautious sell side commentary
- WEC (45.66 -2.62%): To acquire Integrys Energy ( TEG) for $9.1 bln (~$71.47 per share in cash and stock)
- UAL (42.52 -2.61%): Weakness in airline companies: DAL, AAL also lower
Mid Cap Gainers TEG (68.61 +12.57%): To be acquired by Wisconsin Energy ( WEC) for $9.1 bln (~$71.47 per share in cash and stock)BFR (11.59 +5.56%): Reuters reporting that Argentina is considering making an initial payment to holdout creditors prior to requesting an extension to negotiations to reach an official settlementBWLD (164.29 +4.70%): Mentioned positively at Wunderlich
Mid Cap Losers TRQ (3.68 -4.42%): Announced that Oyu Tolgoi has received an audit report from the Mongolian Tax Authority claiming unpaid taxes, penalties and disallowed entitlements associated with the initial development of the Oyu Tolgoi mineAMD (3.94 -3.90%): Downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at Pacific CrestFMC (71.85 -3.88%): Sees Q2 EPS of $0.95-1.05 vs $1.11 estimate; sees FY14 EPS of $4.10-4.30 (lowered from $4.35-4.55) vs $4.44 estimate
11:53 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (258) outpacing new lows (28) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AA, AAL, AAN, AAP, AEM, AET, AGRX, AGX, AIRT, AIV, AKR, AKRX, ALLE, AMAT, AMP, AMTX, AOSL, AP, APA, APC, ASH, ATHL, ATI, AXDX, BGCP, BHE, BHI, BIG, BK, BLJ, BMO, BP, BPL, BTE, BURL, BWLD, CAM, CAT, CAW, CBG, CBPO, CDNS, CDW, CE, CENT, CENX, CFN, CHK, CHMI, CHTR, CI, CJES, CLR, CNL, CNQ, CNSL, CO, CONE, COP, CORE, CRZO, CSX, CUNB, CUZ, CVE, CVGI, CVI, CVTI, CVX, CXO, CYT, DAN, DMLP, DRH, DRII, DVD, ECF, EDAP, EDE, EDR, EE, ELS, ENR, ENTG, ENV, EOG, EQS, ERF, ESCA, ETE, ETN, EVDY, EVER, EXAS, EXP, FDX, FET, FNHC, FNV, FTI, GB, GLOG, GMLP, GPRE, GRH, GST, GWPH, GY, HAL, HALL, HBI, HCA, HCC, HES, HK, HNT, HPP, HUM, IDA, IHG, IMO, INGR, INTC, IPXL, ISIL, ITT, JBLU, JOE, KIM, KOG, KRC, KS, KW, LAD, LCI, LE, LHO, LLY, LM, LPNT, LRCX, MC, METR, MITSY, MLM, MOH, MPLX, MPO, MRO, MSCC, MSFT, MUR, MVG, NAVI, NBL, NFX, NOV, NSC, NTCT, NWN, NXPI, OIS, OKE, OPEN, OXY, PBF, PCRX, PDS, PEB, PEGI, PHX, PJC, PKY, PNC, PPS, PQ, PSX, PSXP, PTX, PXD, REG, RGLD, RGP, RHI, RHP, RLJ, RMBS, RPAI, RPM, RSPP, RTK, RUSHB, SATS, SAVE, SIAL, SIG, SIRO, SMLP, SN, SNA, SPB, SPN, SPW, SQBG, SSL, ST, STJ, STZ, SUNE, SUPN, SWKS, SYNA, SYRG, TAHO, TAX, TBPH, TEG, THG, TOT, TOWR, TPLM, TRP, TRW, TSE, TSO, TXI, UCBA, UDR, UEIC, UFPT, UHS, UNT, VAL, VC, VLP, VMI, VNOM, VNR, VVC, WBB, WCN, WEX, WFT, WGP, WIN, WLB, WLFC, WLL, WNC, WPX, WRI, WSM, XEC, XOM, XYL, YPF, YUM, Z
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ALCS, ARO, AXTI, CCCR, CGA, CHCI, COH, CPAC, DB, GKNT, GRVY, GSH, HERO, IBP, ITIC, NCFT, NILE, NWY, OPB, PRKR, RSH, SBH, SEAC, SGA, USMD, UTEK, VHI, XXIA
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: DIG, DVY, EWC, HYG, IEO, IGE, IHF, IHI, IXC, IYE, IYH, IYM, JNK, MDY, OIH, SOXX, UYM, VTI, XES, XLE, XLV, XOP
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: SMN
Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC) and E4 Computer Engineering have joined forces to design EK003 a low-power solution part of E4's ARKA series, targeting High-Performance Computing and big data workloads.
9:06 am JA Solar announces its started mass production of its PERCIUM solar cell ( JASO) : Co announces its started mass production of its PERCIUM solar cell on June 20. The PERCIUM solar cell, the first P-TYPE solar cell in the industry that surpasses a conversion efficiency of 20%, has reached an average conversion efficiency of 20.4%. The 6x10 PERCIUM cells module, which has reached an average power rating of 285W, is expected to be put into mass production one week later. Currently, the co has one PERCIUM solar cell production line and will have four this October. It expects to have eight in 2015. The capacity of PERCIUM solar cells is expected to reach 170MW by the end of this year and 350MW next year.
8:15 am Advanced Micro announces initial settlement of tender offer for its 8.125% senior notes due 2017 and redemption of all remaining 8.125% notes ( AMD) : Co announced that it has settled all 8.125% Senior Notes due 2017 that were tendered, but not validly withdrawn, at or prior to 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on June 19, 2014 pursuant to its previously announced tender offer and consent solicitation with respect to any and all of its outstanding 8.125% Notes. The Tender Offer will expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on July 3, 2014 unless extended or earlier terminated by AMD.
As of the Consent Deadline, holders of $145,130,000 aggregate principal amount of 8.125% Notes, representing 52.04% of the outstanding 8.125% Notes, had validly tendered their 8.125% Notes and had submitted related consents.AMD expects that the impact of its recent offering of its 7.00% Senior Notes due 2024 and subsequent use of proceeds will be largely neutral in terms of aggregate outstanding debt. AMD also expects to incur a charge of ~$50 mln in the second quarter of 2014 in connection with its purchase and redemption of 8.125% Notes. AMD expects interest expense in the second quarter of 2014 to be ~$46 mln, higher than previously anticipated due to increased debt balances for part of the second quarter of 2014. Beginning in the third quarter of 2014, AMD expects quarterly interest expense to decline to ~$42 mln, driven by 2014 debt reprofiling activities.
8:07 am Hittite Microwave: Analog Devices ( ADI) announces that it has commenced tender offer to purchase all shares of HITT pursuant to previously announced merger agreement ( HITT) : Analog Devices ( ADI) announces that it has commenced a tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of Hittite Microwave ( HITT) for $78 per share in cash. The tender offer is being made pursuant to the Merger Agreement entered into and announced by ADI and Hittite on June 9. Unless extended, the tender offer will expire at midnight at the end of July 21, 2014.
8:02 am Micros Systems being acquired by ORCL (confirming reports) for $68/share in cash ( MCRS) : Oracle ( ORCL) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MICROS Systems ( MCRS), a provider of integrated software and hardware solutions to the Hospitality and Retail industries, for $68.00 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at ~$5.3 bln, or $4.6 billion net of MICROS' cash.
Cloud, mobile, social, big data and the internet of things are impacting every industry, encouraging companies to modernize in order to compete effectively. The addition of MICROS extends Oracle's offerings in industries by combining MICROS' industry specific applications with Oracle's business applications, technologies and cloud portfolio. Together, Oracle and MICROS will help hotels, food & beverage facilities, and retailers to accelerate innovation, transform their businesses, and delight customers with complete, open and integrated solutions.
The Board of Directors of MICROS has unanimously approved the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2014, subject to MICROS stockholders tendering a majority of MICROS' outstanding shares and shares representing vested equity incentive awards in the tender offer, certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Ixia (XXIA 11.22, -0.65): -5.5% after missing earnings estimates and guiding Q1 revenue below analyst expectations. |
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