YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Hampered by Tech stocks, the Nasdaq was unable to join its
counterparts in positive territory for modest gains following a late lift that
came in the face of a weak euro.
The euro fell to a new 52-week low of about $1.25 today. It had
actually made an upward move this morning to lead the greenback by a narrow
margin amid a speech by European Central Bank President Draghi,
calls by eurozone officials for contingency
plans pertaining to Greece’s possible departure from the eurozone,
and chatter about coordinated central bank actions regarding swap lines. Before
long, though, the euro resumed its downtrend so that it trailed the dollar by
about 0.4% by the closing bell.
Economic data from Europe featured disappointing Flash
Manufacturing readings from
Durable goods orders increased by 0.2%
during April, but orders less transportation items declined by 0.6%.
Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected, on average,
that overall orders would increase by 0.3%, while orders less
transportation would increase by 1.0%. Prior month data was revised to reflect
a 3.7% decline in overall orders and a 0.8% decline in orders less
transportation items.
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 370,000,
which is on par with the 365,000 initial claims that had been widely
forecasted, and consistent with the 372,000 initial claims filed in the prior
week.
Domestic data seemed to matter little to market participants, as
did the latest round of earnings reports, which was headlined by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 21.77, +0.69).
Shares of HPQ scored their best single-session percentage gain in more than a
month following the firm’s upside earnings surprise.
The rest of the Tech space underperformed, hurting the Tech-rich Nasdaq. In fact, the Tech sector’s
0.9% loss made for the weakest performance of any major sector. Energy stocks
and Industrials stocks, both of which declined just 0.1%, made up the only
other sectors to suffer losses.
Materials stocks made another impressive swing higher, as they did
in the prior session. The sector overcame an afternoon loss to settle with a
0.8% gain. That was almost as strong as the 0.9% gain staged by Consumer
Staples, which spent the entire session in positive territory as
defensive-oriented issues held up relatively well throughout trade.
Despite general weakness during afternoon trade and steady pressure
on the euro, stocks managed to stage a late squeeze higher. The effort slowed
as the S&P 500 came in contact with the flat line, but the broad market was
able to regroup and push into positive territory and come away with a narrow gain.
After two consecutive losses, crude oil was able to maintain a
position in positive territory for all of pit trade, despite underwhelming
economic data. Prices ranged from a session high of $91.55 per barrel to
a session low of $90.17 per barrel before action settled with crude at $90.63
per barrel for a 0.9% gain.
Natural gas, however, suffered a 3.3% loss by settling at $2.64 per
MMBtu. The drop came despite an inventory build of 77
bcf when a build of 80 bcf
was expected. A floor session low of $2.63 per MMBtu
was set just before action settled for the session.
Gold and silver extended their overnight gains as they climbed to
their respective pit session highs of $1577.70 per ounce and $28.51 per ounce.
Their climb was helped by a drop by the dollar this morning. Although precious
metals lost momentum as the dollar regained strength, both gold and silver
managed to finish in positive territory with a gain of 0.5% at $1556.70 per
ounce and a 2.3% gain at $28.12 per ounce, respectively.
Advancing Sectors:
Financials +0.1%, Consumer Discretionary +0.5%, Telecom +0.6%, Utilities +0.6%,
Health Care +0.8%, Materials +0.8%, Consumer Staples +0.9%
Declining Sectors: Idustrials -0.1%, Energy -0.1%, Tech -0.9%DJ30 +33.60
NASDAQ -10.74 NQ100 -0.6% R2K +0.2% SP400 +0.3% SP500 +1.82 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1298/1.73 bln/1228 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec
1759/794 mln/1252