YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Markets saw choppy action during today's
eventful session. The Nasdaq
fell by 0.7% while the S&P and the Dow shed almost 0.3% each. The morning
started with a technical glitch at Knight Capital
Group (KCG 6.94, -3.39) which caused nearly 150
stocks to behave erratically. After staying positive for the majority of the
day, stocks returned to negative territory in light of the Federal Open Market
Committee's Statement.
The FOMC decided to keep its target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to
0.25%. It currently anticipates that "economic conditions--including low
rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the
medium run--are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal
funds rate at least through late 2014."
The Committee said it will "closely monitor
incoming information on economic and financial developments and will provide
additional accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and
sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price
stability."
Economic data was mixed this morning with ADP Employment Change surprising to
the upside while the ISM Index and construction spending disappointed.
The ADP National Employment Report indicated employment in the nonfarm private business
sector rose 163K in July. This was above the 125K expected by the consensus. In
addition, the previous month's reading was revised down to 172K from 176K.
The July ISM Index came in worse than expected at 49.8 vs. the 50.1 consensus
estimate, and up slightly from June's 49.7 reading. June construction spending
rose 0.4% month over month vs. the 0.9% expected by Briefing.com consensus.
Crude oil spent most of its pit session in an uptrend, getting a boost from the
bullish inventory data that showed a draw of 6.5 million barrels when a draw of
1.0 million was anticipated. The energy component climbed to a session high of
$89.49 per barrel, but then plummeted to a session low of $87.92 in reaction to
the little-changed FOMC statement. Crude recovered the loss quickly and settled
with a 1.0% gain at $88.97.
The euro turned down sharply following the FOMC announcement and ended at
1.2225 versus the dollar.
Today's selling pressure has had the biggest impact on the consumer
discretionary sector. The S&P 500 component was down near 1%.
Frontier Communications
(FTR 4.34, +0.42) was the best performing S&P 500 component. The company
reported earnings of $0.08 per share which was $0.02 ahead of the consensus
estimates. Revenues fell compared to last year, but at $1.26 billion, the
number still came in ahead of the forecasted $1.25 billion. With an 11%
advance, the stock is attempting to break out of a long-term down channel
dating back to early 2011.
Genworth Financial (GNW 4.48, -0.56) was the main laggard,
down 11%. The company missed earnings estimates by $0.02 while reporting
revenue of $2.52 billion which was above the $2.5 billion consensus. The stock
dipped to lows not seen since May of 2009.
Insurers MetLife
(MET 30.43, -0.34) and Prudential
(PRU 47.58, -0.70) were both down roughly 1.2% ahead of their after-hours
releases. The consensus estimate calls for MetLife to earn $1.25 per share on
revenues of $16.98 billion. Meanwhile, Prudential is expected to earn $1.54 per
share on $10.64 billion in revenues.
In addition, Yelp
(YELP 18.82, -1.14) is also scheduled for an after-hours earnings release. The
stock was 5.7% lower ahead of its earnings with the company expecting to reveal
a loss of $0.06 per share on revenues of $30.69 million.
The European Central Bank and Bank of
Crude oil spent most of its pit session in an uptrend, getting a
boost from bullish inventory data that showed a draw of 6.522 mln barrels when a draw of 1.0 mln
barrels was anticipated. The energy component climbed to a session high of
$89.49 per barrel but then plummeted to a session low of $87.92 per barrel in
reaction to the little-changed FOMC statement. Crude recovered the loss quickly
and settled with a 1.0% gain at $88.97 per barrel.
Natural gas popped to a session high of $3.24 per MMBtu
in morning action but was unable to sustain the move. It dipped to a session
low of $3.12 per MMBtu before it attempted a slight
recovery and settled at $3.17 per MMBtu, or 1.6% lower. Precious metals extended yesterday's losses
during today's pit trade as the dollar inched slightly higher. Action came on
employment and manufacturing data, and ahead of the FOMC policy directive
announcement.
Gold slid to a floor session low of $1598.00 per ounce in morning action but
was able to erase some losses. It settled the session with a 0.5% loss at
$1607.10 per ounce. Silver's drop took it as low as $27.06 per ounce moments
after pit trade opened. The metal also inched slightly higher for the remainder
of its session and settled with a 1.4% loss at $27.52 per ounce.
Tomorrow's economic data includes Challenger Job Cuts at 7:30 AM ET, initial
and continuing claims at 8:30 AM ET, and factory orders at 10 AM ET.DJ30 -32.55
NASDAQ -19.31 SP500 -4.00 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 758/1.69
bln/1932 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1238/1.03 bln/1980