YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The Dow
and S&P 500 essentially followed up a choppy, lackluster session with a
flat finish, but the Nasdaq underperformed as large-cap tech issues acted as a
drag.
Broader market trade lacked
direction in the early going. Stocks were unable to build on the prior
session's big bounce mostly because of disappointment over the September ADP
Employment Change. The report indicated that private payrolls fell by 39,000
last month, but economists polled by Briefing.com had expected, on average, an
increase of 18,000. On a positive note, data for the prior month was revised
upward to reflect an addition of 10,000 payrolls. Still, the downside surprise
of September adds to the uncertainty of the official nonfarm payrolls report
due Friday.
Selling pressure picked up
midsession, but both the Dow and S&P 500 were able to retrace the slide.
For a time the Dow fractionally extended its five-month high, but the S&P
500 could not confirm the move. Blue chips were led by integrated energy giants
Exxon Mobil (XOM 63.94, +0.68) and Chevron
(CVX 83.89, +0.50) while the broader market was led by Massey Energy (MEE
33.82, +1.94) and Constellation Brands (STZ 18.52, +0.76),
which posted better-than-expected bottom line and reaffirmed its earnings
outlook for fiscal 2011.
Monsanto (MON 48.65, +0.13) was also out with its
latest quarterly results. The company came short of earnings expectations and
even issued downside guidance, but still advanced as materials stocks attracted
broad support. Materials stocks settled with a 0.8% gain, which was matched
only by the energy sector.
Tech stocks sagged all
session, though. The sector's 0.6% slide came as semiconductor stocks fell 1.6%
and the likes of Amazon.com (AMZN 155.40, -5.47) and Citrix
Systems (CTXS 60.15, -9.85) fell out of favor. Weakness among
large-cap tech issues weighed heavily on the Nasdaq, which lagged its
counterparts for the entire afternoon.
Treasuries traded with
strength all session. So strong were their gains that yields on Notes with
2-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 7-year maturities set record lows. The benchmark
10-year Note saw its yield settle below 2.40% after it had been as low as
2.36%, its lowest level since January 2009. The yield on the 30-year Bond fell
to 3.67% after it was as low as 3.63%. During the session the yield curve hit
its flattest level in about five weeks.
The dollar's doldrums
continued as it dropped another 0.5% against competing currencies. That put it
at a new eight-month low. Most of the move lower is owed to strength in the
euro, which gained 0.7% against the greenback even though analysts at Fitch
downgraded Ireland's debt.
Oil prices were down a bit at
the start of pit trade, but they recovered to settle with a 0.5% gain at $83.23
per barrel in the face of bearish inventory data, which showed a build of 3.09
million barrels for the week ending October 1 when a build of just 413,000 barrels
had been expected. At their session high oil prices were above $84 per barrel,
which made for a five-month high.
Natural gas traded with
strength all session. The energy component settled 3.3% higher at $3.87 per
MMBtu.
Precious metals continued to climb.
As such, gold prices settled 0.6% higher at $1347.70 per ounce and silver
settled 1.3% higher at $23.04 per ounce. Ahead of pit trade the continuous gold
contract set a new record high of $1349 per ounce, but the continuous
silver contract set a new 30-year high of $23.19 per ounce in electronic trade
following the close.
Despite their collective
strength, the CRB Commodity Index ended just 0.3% higher.
On deck for tomorrow are the
latest weekly jobless claims count and consumer credit figures for August.
Earnings season gets its unofficial start after the close when Dow component Alcoa
(AA 12.37, +0.23) reports its latest quarterly results.
Advancing Sectors: Materials (+0.8%), Energy (+0.8%),
Industrials (+0.6%), Consumer Staples (+0.4%)
Declining Sectors: Telecom (-1.6%), Tech (-0.6%), Consumer
Discretionary (-0.5%), Utilities (-0.4%), Health Care (-0.4%)
Unchanged: FinancialsDJ30 +22.93 NASDAQ -19.17 NQ100 -0.9% R2K
-0.6% SP400 -0.8% SP500 -0.78 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1083/2.13 bln/1535 NYSE
Adv/Vol/Dec 1399/979 mln/1574