From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Stocks settled with narrow to modest gains after spending the session bouncing around under the beguile of oil, which pushed to a new two-year closing high amid ongoing geopolitical concerns related to the Middle East and North Africa.
Gradual buying helped stocks head higher in the first couple of hours of trade, but the tone deteriorated as oil attracted renewed interest. Traders had a muted response to bullish inventory data, but reports surfaced that Libyan fighter jets fired on the oil terminal city of Masra El Brega propeled prices in the continuous contract as high as $102.37 per barrel. They settled just off of that mark.
Oil's ability to hold its gain into the close of pit trade and even afterward in electronic trade undermined strength in the stock market, which had traded to afternoon highs only an hour before the close. Stocks drifted downward during the last leg of trade for a rather underwhelming finish.
Despite that, semiconductor stocks scored a 1.4% gain after analysts at JPMorgan upgraded the space. Retailers were relatively strong ahead of their monthly same-store results -- they collectively climbed 0.6%.
More stiff selling sent the Amex Airline Index down 0.9%, which comes on top of its 3.0% loss in the prior session. Higher oil prices remain the primary culprit.
Corporate news was of little concern to the overall market, but a stronger-than-expected ADP Employment Change attracted attention. The report indicated that private payrolls increased in February by 217,000, which is considerably greater than the increase of 163,000 that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com.
Although the positive ADP Change portends well for the official nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, Fed Chairman Bernanke reminded the House of Representatives during his semi-annual monetary policy testimony that unemployment remains stubbornly high.
That said, the Fed's latest Beige Book states that wage pressures remain steady, even though overall economic activity improved across the various Fed districts.
Despite an improving picture of economic activity and varied gains by stocks, precious metals continued to attract safety seekers. In turn, gold gained 0.6% to close pit trade at $1437.70 per ounce. Along the way it set a new all-time high of $1441.00 per ounce. Silver advanced 1.0% to finish at $34.82 per ounce after it notched a fresh 30-year high at $34.97.
Advancing Sectors: Energy (+0.5%), Tech (+0.5%), Industrials (+0.4%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.4%), Telecom (+0.4%), Health Care (+0.3%), Materials (+0.2%), Utilities (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Consumer Staples (-0.4%), Financial (-0.7%)DJ30 +8.78 NASDAQ +10.66 NQ100 +0.5% R2K +0.5% SP400 +0.5% SP500 +2.11 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1454/1.99 bln/1159 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1890/1.02 bln/1078
1:40PM Apple confirms launch of iPad 2 (AAPL) 351.60 +2.34 : Co confirms its introduced iPad 2. iPad 2 features an entirely new design that is 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter than the original iPad, while maintaining the same stunning 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen. iPad 2 features Apple's new dual-core A5 processor for blazing fast performance and stunning graphics and now includes two cameras, a front-facing VGA camera for FaceTime and Photo Booth, and a rear-facing camera that captures 720p HD video, bringing the innovative FaceTime feature to iPad users for the first time. Though it is thinner, lighter, faster and packed with new features, iPad 2 still delivers up to 10 hours of battery life that users have come to expect. iPad 2 is available in black or white, features models that run on AT&T's (T) and Verizon's (VZ) 3G networks, and introduces the innovative iPad 2 Smart Cover in a range of vibrant polyurethane and rich leather colors.
10:49AM Semiconductor Hldrs ETF continues to provide leadership, notches new session high (SMH) 36.13 +0.93 : Noted the relative strength in earlier updates with the rally extended to 36.15 in recent trade. This week's high and the Mid-Feb gap bottom is at 36.26 with the top of the gap at 36.42. The multi-year high from Feb come into play at 36.67 -- ADI, ALTR, AMAT, AMD, AMKR, ATML, BRCM, INTC, KLAC, LLTC, LSI, MU, MXIM, NSM, NVLS, SNDK, TER, TXN, XLNX
American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) announced that it has received initial wind turbine electrical control system orders from China's Dongfang Turbine Co.
7:01AM Advanced Energy announces $20m follow-on order from centrotherm photovoltaics for solar cell applications (AEIS) 15.85 : Co announces a high-volume follow-on order from centrotherm photovoltaics AG, a leading technology and equipment provider for the photovoltaics sector. Advanced Energy, a preferred supplier to centrotherm photovoltaics since 2005, will provide the innovative PEII Series Power Supply platform to meet their rapidly growing demand for silicon crystalline solar manufacturing systems worldwide. Shipments are ongoing, and the $20M order extends through 2011.
08:14 am Oracle target raised to $36 at Stifel Nicolaus ahead of F3Q11 report: . Stifel Nicolaus raises their ORCL tgt to $36 from $34 ahead of the F3Q11 report on 3/24. Firm is estimating revenue and EPS of $8.66bn (up 33% ex currency, about 1% organic) and $0.49, in line with guidance for constant currency growth of 31-35% and $0.48-0.50 ($8.65bn/$0.49 consensus). Given the back-end weighted quarter, firm thinks currency tailwinds could be slightly ahead of guidance for 1%. While calling Oracle's quarters is fraught with risk and firm continues to hear caution on the overall macro environment and slow deal cycles, its general take is that the traditional Oracle business had a solid quarter as enterprises appear to be increasing investment in technology. |
