YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Equities showed indecision during the first
hour of the session but were lifted higher as the day went on. A notable
increase in housing permits and in-line initial claims data supported the day's
advances. The major indices retreated off their highs before the close but
still ended firmly in the black. The Nasdaq
gained 1.0% and the S&P ended higher by 0.7%.
Nasdaq-listed shares outperformed on a few names
making big moves.
Coinstar
(CSTR 51.88, +3.66) surged 7.6% after reports suggested the company is discussing
a potential sale with a private equity firm. Shares of the Redbox
video rental kiosk operator have been mired in a slump since reaching an
all-time high of $71.82 in early July.
Network solutions providers were generally higher today. Cisco Systems (CSCO 19.02, +1.67) surged 9.6% after
beating earnings estimates and reporting in-line revenue. The company also
increased the quarterly dividend by 75% to $0.14. Competitor F5 Networks (FFIV 104.05, +4.76) advanced 4.8% as it
piggybacked the positive Cisco results.
Meanwhile, Facebook
(FB 19.87, -1.33) plunged 6.3% as the insider lock-up period expired. Starting
today, 271 million additional shares may be traded on the open market. Pressure
caused by today's selling has dropped the social media company to an all-time
low since its May initial public offering.
A handful of notable second quarter earnings releases remain on the calendar. Aeropostale
(ARO 13.66, +0.03) and Gap
(GPS 34.34, -0.27) will deliver final reports for apparel producers after today's
close. Aeropostale is expected to break even on
$488.65 million in revenues. Meanwhile, analysts expect Gap to earn $0.47 on
revenues of $3.52 billion.
Foot Locker (FL 34.49, -0.03) and J.M. Smucker
(SJM 78.97, 0.00) will report their results ahead of tomorrow's open. Forecasts
expect Foot Locker to earn $0.33 on $1.35 billion in revenues while J.M. Smucker is expected to report earnings of $1.00 on $1.30
billion in revenues.
Today's economic data indicated a rise in housing permits. At 812,000, the reading
was well ahead of the expected 770,000, and it was received as a possible sign
of a housing rebound. Separately, housing starts hit an annualized rate of
746,000 units during July. This number was below the 763,000 that was expected.
Homebuilder stocks responded positively to the data as the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 23.09, +0.72) added
3.2%. Builder KB Home
(KBH 10.89, +0.57) jumped 5.5% after this morning's data.
The
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 366,000, which was just
below the 368,000 that had been expected. The tally was also up from the
revised prior week count of 364,000. As for continuing claims, they fell to
about 3.305 million from 3.336 million.
Crude oil advanced in today's floor trade as the dollar weakened.
It came off its session low of $94.11 per barrel and steadily climbed higher,
settling with a 1.4% gain at $95.69 per barrel, just below its session high of
$95.73 per barrel. It is worth noting that reports came out moments before the
close suggesting that the White House is "dusting off old plans" on a
potential oil reserve release as prices rise.
Natural gas popped to a pit session high of $2.84 per MMBtu
in response to better-than-anticipated inventory data that showed a build of 20
bcf when a build of 30 bcf
was expected. The move was short lived, however, as prices slid to a session
low of $2.68 per MMBtu just moments later. Natural
gas moved back into positive territory but gave up all of its gains heading
into the close and settled the session 1.1% lower at $2.72 per MMBtu.
Precious metals popped into positive territory in reaction to
Tomorrow's economic calendar includes just two releases. The Michigan Sentiment
for August will be released at 9:55 AM ET while leading indicators will be
reported at 10 AM ET.DJ30 +85.33 NASDAQ +31.46 SP500 +9.98 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1697/1.89 bln/739 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec
2167/595.9 mln/829