YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Despite
the dollar's longest and strongest streak of gains in months, stocks were able
to recover from sizable losses to settle with varied gains. The first real dose
of data in several days did little to move the market.
Amid rekindled concerns about
eurozone sovereign debt the dollar climbed as much as 0.9% before it was backed
down to a 0.3% gain at the close of trade. Even though that made for a rather
marked retreat, the dollar still booked its fourth consecutive advance for the
first time since August. Moreover, the 2.3% gained by the greenback in the past
four sessions has made for the dollar's strongest four-session performance
since August.
The stock market had been down
about 0.8% before the dollar's downturn from its session high attracted buyers
back into the market. Some short squeezing in the wake of the prior session's
wobbliness aided the move.
Participants showed particular
favor for financials after they had dropped more than 2% in the prior session.
The sector rebounded to a 1.4% gain this session. Diversified services were
especially strong as they advanced 2.3%.
Energy stocks weren't far
behind. They climbed 1.3% with help from higher oil prices, which finished pit
trade with a 1.3% gain at $87.81 per barrel, its highest close of the year.
Though oil's advance was helped by a surprise draw down in weekly
inventories, it still flew in the face of a broader pullback among commodities,
including a 7.1% drop in the price of silver to $26.89 per ounce after it set a
30-year high of $29.34 per ounce in the prior session.
Research In Motion (RIMM 58.44, +3.44) helped the Nasdaq
Composite modestly outperform its counterparts after it unveiled plans for its
tablet. Cisco (CSCO 24.49, +0.14) was slow to attract support
ahead of its quarterly report, but it still booked a gain.
Small-cap stocks registered
some of the strongest gains. Collectively they climbed 1.2%, according to the
Russell 2000. Its advancing issues outnumbered decliners by more than 3-to-1.
Treasuries attracted mixed
interest this session. They initially sold off following the release of results
from a $16 billion auction of 30-year Bonds. The auction drew a bid-to-cover of
2.31 on dollar demand of $37.0 billion and an indirect bidder participation
rate of 38.4%. The relatively low bid-to-cover was related more to the
increased size of auction than overall investor appetite. After the results
were more fully digested Treasuries rallied such that the yield on the
benchmark 10-year Note was up as much as 2.77% and down as much as 2.64%, which
is about where it was when trade closed. The 30-year Bond yield was up as high
as 4.33% before it closed near 4.24%.
Data for the day featured an
initial jobless claims count for the week ended November 6. The report was
moved a day up on the calendar due to the observance of Veterans Day tomorrow
(U.S. equity markets will remain open, but U.S. bond markets will be closed).
It featured new initial claims of 435,000, which is down 24,000 week-over-week
and less than the 450,000 that had been generally expected among economists
polled by Briefing.com. Continuing claims were also down from the prior week.
They came in at 4.30 million, down from 4.39 million.
The trade deficit for
September totaled $44.0 billion, which is not quite as deep as the $44.8
billion deficit that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by
Briefing.com. The September deficit was down a bit from the $46.5 billion
deficit recorded for August. The deficits come in stark contrast with the $27
billion surplus recently reported by China for its trade in October --
something that will likely draw discussion during the G-20 meeting that begins
tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the Treasury budget
for October featured a deficit of $140.4 billion, which is essentially on par
with the $140.0 billion budget deficit that had been expected among economists
that were polled by Briefing.com.
Commodities took a breather
today, as precious metals (-3.4%), soft commodities (-1.6%), grains (-1.3%),
and industrials (-0.4%) all closed lower on the day.
Dec silver futures plunged
7.1% to settle at $26.89 per ounce. It was a sharp reversal from yesterday's
session, which saw silver prices at fresh 30-yr highs. Strength in the dollar
weighed on both silver and gold futures. Dec gold finished lower by 0.7% to
$1399.30 per ounce. It traded to its session lows, at $1383.40, in mid-morning
trade and spent the remainder of the day bouncing off those lows.
Dec crude oil finished higher
by 1.3% to $87.81 per barrel, its highest settlement of the year. It rallied
following this morning's bullish inventory data, which showed a draw down vs an
expected build. Dec natural gas ended lower by 2.8% to $4.05 per MMBtu. It sold
off through out the session to end near its lows at $4.02.
Advancing Sectors: Financials (+1.4%), Energy (+1.3%),
Consumer Discretionary (+0.8%), Materials (+0.5%), Tech (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Utilities (-0.6%), Consumer Staples
(-0.3%), Industrials (-0.2%), Telecom (-0.1%)
Unchanged: Health CareDJ30 +10.29 NASDAQ +15.80 NQ100 +0.5%
R2K +1.2% SP400 +0.9% SP500 +5.31 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1780/2.02 bln/867 NYSE
Adv/Vol/Dec 1855/1.12 bln/1138