YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Equities got a lift at the open from strong
Retail sales rose during July by 0.8%, which was better than the 0.2% increase
that had been broadly expected. Excluding autos, retail sales rose by 0.8%,
which contrasts with the Briefing.com consensus call for a rise of 0.3%.
Overall producer prices rose in July by 0.3%, which was hotter than the 0.2%
increase that had been widely forecasted. Core producer prices were up 0.4%
which is ahead of the 0.2% Briefing.com consensus.
Financials showed strength early but lost steam into the close. The SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 14.93, -0.02)
slipped 0.1%. Within the group, Bank of America
(BAC 7.78, +0.06) rose 0.8% and JPMorgan Chase
(JPM 37.10, +0.11) advanced 0.3%. However, European financials were weaker with
Credit Suisse (CS 17.45, -0.29) and UBS (UBS 10.74, -0.08) down 1.6% and 0.7%
respectively.
Technology stocks underperformed the broader market. Juniper Networks (JNPR 18.07, -0.85) tumbled 4.5%. Shares
of the network infrastructure producer were lower after a major
Stocks in the materials sector also lagged behind with the biggest weakness
coming from miners and chemical producers. Valspar (VAL 50.74, -2.20) slid 4.2% after
missing revenue expectations. The management reaffirmed full-year guidance but
described the fourth quarter as ‘challenging.'
Groupon
(GRPN 5.51, -2.04) plunged 27.0% after receiving multiple downgrades in the
wake of yesterday's earnings report which was accompanied by disappointing
guidance. Today's selling has dropped shares to an all-time low and represents
a nearly 79.0% decrease in value since the company went public in November
2011.
Although most of the quarterly results have been delivered, a few more notable
names will report earnings before tomorrow's open. Deere (DE 80.13, +0.37) is expected to earn
$2.32 on revenues of $9.54 billion.
Also due out are earnings from retailers Target (TGT 63.38, +0.87) and Staples (SPLS 13.45, +0.09). Target is expected
to earn $1.01 on $16.83 billion revenues while analysts are looking for
earnings of $0.22 and $5.73 billion from Staples.
Following yesterday's lowest close in five years, the volatility index, or VIX,
rebounded by 9.0%. After hitting a low of 13.66 during yesterday's session, the
index has rebounded to 14.92. After an initial spike at the open, the
volatility measure remained steady through most of the session before making a
final push higher into the close.
Thin volume was once again the story. Just over 566 million shares changed
hands on the
Crude oil rallied to a pit session high of $93.92 per barrel moments after
equity markets opened. It then dropped to a session low of $92.88 per barrel
but climbed higher in afternoon action. The energy component eventually settled
at $93.38 per barrel, or up 0.7% after two losing sessions.
Natural gas trended higher in today's floor trade, also breaking a two-session
losing streak. It settled 3.7% higher at $2.83 per MMBtu,
or just below its session high of $2.85 per MMBtu.
Gold and silver tumbled into negative territory and to their respective session
lows of $1593.30 and $27.58 per ounce as the dollar popped in response to
better-than-expected retail sales data.
Gold spent the remainder of its session inching higher in an attempt to erase
some of the loss. However, it was unable to gain enough momentum and settled
0.6% lower at $1602.20 per ounce. Silver, on the other hand, chopped around
just below the unchanged line and closed the session 0.1% lower at $27.75 per
ounce.
Multiple economic data points will be reported tomorrow. The weekly MBA
Mortgage Index will be out at 7 AM ET. CPI and Empire Manufacturing
for the month of July will be released at 8:30 AM ET. Also due out are last
month's industrial production and capacity utilization readings which will hit
the wires at 9:15 AM ET and the NAHB Housing Market Index which is scheduled
for a 10 AM ET release.DJ30 +2.71 NASDAQ -5.54 SP500 -0.18 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 942/1.52 bln/1526 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec
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