YAHOO [ BRIEFING.COM ]: Choppy trade in
the early going gave way to moderate selling pressure. Unable to overcome it,
stocks suffered varied losses.
Although Asia's major averages advanced in overnight action,
selling in
Market participants were dealt only a small dose of data, which
proved disappointing. Existing home sales for January hit an annualized rate of
4.57 million units, but that was shy of the rate of 4.63 million units that had
been broadly expected. A significant downward revision to prior month sales
also hurt the housing picture.
Sellers leaned a little harder in late morning trade, sending
stocks to session lows, but overall losses were never severe. Stocks attempted
to work their way out of the red, but when the Dow failed to overcome
resistance at the neutral line sellers redoubled their efforts. That resulted
in a downward chop that left the major averages to book varied losses.
Financials proved to be a heavy drag on trade. The sector lagged
all day and settled near its session low with a 1.3% loss. Banks, brokerages,
and diversified financial services issues all experienced pronounced selling.
Tech stocks, which make up the largest sector by market weight,
moved listlessly this morning, but in afternoon action they came to look weak.
As a group tech stocks suffered a 0.4% loss. Among the sector's poorest
performers, Dell (DELL
17.15, -1.06) suffered a dramatic drop after the computer company posted
earnings that came short of the consensus estimate. In contrast, Intuit (INTU 60.92, +3.40) was a top
performing tech play following the firm's upside earnings surprise.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 28.94, -0.41) shares slipped ahead of their quarterly
report.
Energy issues outperformed in the prior session and displayed
leadership again in the early going, but the sector was unable to maintain its
morning move. That said, the sector was the only one
that managed to stay out of negative territory when the broad market set its
session low. Collectively, energy stocks eked out a 0.2% gain. In the backdrop,
oil prices oscillated before settling pit trade with an incremental gain at
$106.35 per barrel.
The dollar had a quiet day. It spent the session simply resting on
an early gain that was largely the result of a sharp drop by the sterling pound
after it was disclosed that a couple of Bank of England officials had wanted
additional stimulus. The euro remained near the neutral line despite news that
Europe's latest economic data did nothing to drive action in the
euro, but it was blamed for weakness among the continent's major bourses. The
latest eurozone Manufacturing PMI inched up to 49.0
from 48.8 in the prior reading, but the sub-50 number still points to tighter
activity. At 50.1,
Oil prices oscillated for most of the session before settling pit
trade with a 0.1% gain at $106.35 per barrel. The energy component remains
sensitive to increased geopolitical tension surrounding
Natural gas prices battled back from an early loss to score a 0.8%
gain. Contracts closed pit trade with natural gas priced at $2.65 per MMBtu.
Gold rallied from an early loss to settle the session with a 0.7%
gain at $1771.70 per ounce. Silver slashed its loss to settle the day down 0.5%
at $34.27 per ounce after it had been dropped for a loss of more than 1%
earlier in the day.
Advancing Sectors:
Energy +0.2%, Utilities +0.2%
Unchanged: Health Care
Declining Sectors:
Industrials -0.1%, Consumer Staples -0.2%, Materials -0.3%, Consumer
Discretionary -0.4%, Tech -0.4%, Telecom -0.5%, Financials -1.3%DJ30 -27.02
NASDAQ -15.40 NQ100 -0.4% R2K -0.8% SP400 -0.5% SP500 -4.55 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 834/1.69 bln/1695 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec
1179/729 mln/1828