YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The stock market continued its recent string
of daily swings today as the S&P 500 scored a gain of about 1% after
starting the session near the neutral line. Despite its effort, the S&P 500
enters Friday only a few points above where it began the week.
Broad market stock futures traded in a relatively narrow range near
the neutral line this morning. Market participants appeared cautious as
Europe’s major bourses moved lower following another downgrade of
While producer price data released yesterday was somewhat out of
sync with what had been forecasted, consumer price data released today didn’t
necessarily support the case against accommodative action by the Fed. Overall
consumer prices declined during May by 0.3%, while core prices increased by
0.2%. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected, on average, a decline in
overall prices of 0.2%, but an increase in core prices of 0.1%.
Current deficit data was given less attention. For the first
quarter it totaled $137.3 billion, which is greater than the $130.9 billion
deficit that had been broadly anticipated.
Although trade was generally lackluster in the early going, buyers
began to step in with a bid. Strong gains held into the afternoon, but support
started to wane shortly before the final hour. The drift lower was reversed
when stocks spiked to session highs in response to reports that central banks
are preparing for a coordinated effort, if necessary, after political elections
are held in Greece this coming weekend. Trade turned whippy in the wake of that
headline, but the broad market still booked a gain on the order of 1%.
Although the tone of trade would suggest that participants might be
more willing to take on risk, defensive-oriented Telecom scored the strongest
gain of any major sector. It settled nearly 2% higher for the day. However,
mobile handset maker Nokia (NOK
2.35, -0.44) saw its shares slump to new multi-year lows in response to a
pessimistic profitability forecast.
In other corporate news, Credit
Suisse (CS 17.97, -1.87) shares were cut down to multi-year
lows for concerns that the firm will move to raise new capital at the urging of
officials.
Kroger (KR
22.58, +1.29) was one of few companies to report quarterly results this
morning. The company posted an upside earnings surprise and issued strong
guidance, helping its shares outperform in the latest round of action.
Energy stocks were also strong. The sector’s 1.7% gain came amid
higher oil and natural gas prices. Crude oil scored a gain of about 1.6% by
finishing pit trade at $83.85 per barrel amid a modestly weaker dollar and
OPEC’s decision to keep its daily oil production ceiling unchanged at 30
million barrels. A bullish inventory report helped natural gas prices rally to
$2.50 per MMBtu for a 14.7% gain.
Tech stocks lagged for virtually the entire session. The sector’s
0.3% gain was less than what any other sector managed today. Its relative
weakness hampered the Nasdaq.
The dollar traded higher overnight, but pulled back early this
morning. Still, it managed to limit its loss as the euro muddled along with
only a narrow gain before bouncing at the end of the day. As of the closing
bell the euro was up 0.5% against the greenback.
Crude oil came off its pit session low of $82.37 per barrel and
traded higher with help from a modestly weaker dollar and OPEC’s decision to
keep its daily oil production ceiling unchanged at 30 million barrels. The
energy component settled with a gain of $1.29 at $83.85 per barrel,
narrowly beneath a session high of $84.04 per barrel that was set moments prior
to pit close. Natural gas popped following bullish inventory data that showed a
lower-than-anticipated build. It continued to move higher for the remainder of
floor trade, settling 14.7% higher at its session high of $2.50 per MMBtu.
Gold and silver rallied to respective floor session highs of
$1629.00 per ounce and $28.97 per ounce following disappointing weekly initial
jobless claims data and an unsurprising CPI report. However, both metals
retreated with the open of US equity markets. Gold fell into negative territory
to a session low of $1610.40 per ounce, but erased the loss and settled floor
trade unchanged at $1619.90 per ounce. Silver slid to a session low of $28.15
per ounce and spent the remainder of pit trade attempting to recover from the
move. It settled with a 1.6% loss at $28.47 per ounce.
Advancing Sectors:
Tech +0.3%, Materials +0.7%, Utilities +0.8%, Industrials +0.9%, Consumer
Staples +1.3%, Financials +1.3%, Health Care +1.4%, Consumer Discretionary
+1.4%, Energy +1.7%, Telecom +1.9%
Declining Sectors:
NoneDJ30 +155.53 NASDAQ +17.72 NQ100 +0.5% R2K +1.3% SP400 +0.8% SP500 +14.22
NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1732/1.62 bln/736 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2144/777 mln/900