Tag Archives: S&P 500

Stocks close mostly lower

U.S. equities closed mostly lower on Friday as investors digested disappointing economic data, following a record-setting day on Thursday.

Retail sales for July came in unchanged, with economists expecting a 0.4 percent increase. Meanwhile, the July reading of the producer price index showed a decline of 0.4 percent, as economists forecast a 0.1 percent gain.

The weak retail sales data were released a day after strong earnings from retail giants Macy’s and Kohl’s pointed to further strength for the overall U.S. consumer.

Excluding Thursday, U.S. stocks have traded in a very narrow range this week, with volatility hovering around multi-year lows. The CBOE Volatility index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded about 1.4 percent lower, near 11.5. In afternoon trade Friday, Schwab’s Frederick said there were four calls on on the Vix for every put in the options market, which indicates investors think the index “can’t go much lower.”

Earlier on Friday, the S&P and the Nasdaq briefly traded in positive territory.

TheDow Jones industrial averagefell 37.05 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 18,576.47, with DuPont leading decliners and ExxonMobil the top advancer.

TheS&P 500 closed 1.74 points lower, or 0.08 percent, at 2,184.05, with materials leading seven sectors lower and energy the biggest riser.

TheNasdaq rose 4.5 points, or 0.09 percent, to end at 5,232.89.

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Dow Jones Down 100, But Retail Stocks Rise

U.S. stocks traded lower Monday, with energy stocks weighing as oil prices declined, as investors looked ahead to major earnings reports and central bank meetings.

Chevron, Exxon Mobil and UnitedHealth contributed the most to declines in the Dow Jones industrial average, which held about 100 points lower in afternoon trade. The Dow is up about 3 percent for the month so far.

No major economic data was due Monday. The Dallas Fed manufacturing index improved from June’s negative 18.3 to minus 1.3 in July. Second-quarter GDP and housing data are among the major reports due later in the week.

About nine stocks declined for every five advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, with an exchange volume of 423 million and a composite volume of 2.0 billion in afternoon trade.

Coming Up:

Tuesday:

Two-day Fed meeting begins

9 a.m. S&P/Case-Shiller home prices

9:45 a.m. Services PMI

10 a.m. New home sales<br>10 a.m. Consumer confidence

1 p.m. $34 billion 5-year note auction

Wednesday:

7 a.m. Mortgage applications

8:30 a.m. Durable goods; pending homes

11:30 a.m. $15 billion 2-year floating rate notes auction

2 p.m. FOMC rate decision

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All major indexes lower; oil falls after inventory data

THURSDAY – U.S. stocks traded narrowly mixed Thursday as investors eyed oil prices ahead of the highly anticipated jobs report due Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average gave up opening gains to trade a touch lower, with Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Travelers having the greatest negative impact. The S&P 500 turned negative, attempting to hold the psychologically key 2,100 level. Utilities and telecoms led decliners, while energy also gave up earlier gains.

U.S. crude oil futures erased gains to trade more than 3 percent lower just below $46 a barrel after the EIA said weekly crude inventories declined 2.2 million barrels, far less than the 6.7 million barrel drawdown the American Petroleum Institute reported late Wednesday. A reversal in oil prices higher helped stocks close higher on Wednesday.

European markets bounced back Thursday, with the pan European Stoxx 600 Index trading more than 1 percent higher, helped by gains in banking stocks.

On the earnings front, PepsiCo reported better-than-expected earnings. Barracuda Networks and Helen of Troy are among companies set to report after the bell.

Coming Up:

Friday

8:30 a.m. Employment report
3 p.m. Consumer credit

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Dow Up 100+ In Early Trading

U.S. stocks traded higher Wednesday, following a global rally on encouraging China trade data, and helped by JPMorgan’s earnings beat.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained more than 100 points soon after the open. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase contributed the most to gains.

Financials are the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 for the year so far.

The Nasdaq composite gained more than 1 percent with Apple and Amazon.com leading major tech stocks higher.

Coming Up:

Wednesday

Earnings: Pier 1 Imports, Kinder Morgan, Noble

10 a.m. Business inventories

10:30 a.m. EIA oil inventories

1 p.m. $20 billion 10-year note auction

2 p.m. Beige book

Thursday

Earnings: Bank of America, BlackRock, Wells Fargo, PNC Financial, First Republic Bank, Freeport-McMoRan, Snap-on, Advanced Micro, Delta Air Lines, Shaw Communications, Infosys

8 a.m. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda at CFR, New York

8:30 a.m. Jobless claims

8:30 a.m. CPI

10 a.m. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart

10 a.m. Fed Gov. Jerome Powell at Senate Banking subcommittee

1 p.m. $12 billion 30-year bond auction

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Stocks Start Lower Monday

U.S. stocks traded in a range Monday, after five straight weeks of gains, as investors eyed oil and housing data in the holiday-shortened week.

The major averages tried to reclaim opening losses to hold mostly higher, with telecommunications leading S&P 500 advancers and Boeing the top contributor to gains in the Dow Jones industrial average.

Citigroup traded more than 1 percent higher. KBW said in a Sunday note the firm “could be one of the only U.S. (global systematically important banks) that could successfully split up,” a move that “should unlock meaningful shareholder value—50+% returns versus the current market capitalization.”

The Nasdaq composite outperformed in morning trade, as Apple gained more than half a percent and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 1.5 percent.

U.S. crude oil futures for April delivery attempted to hold higher above $39.50 a barrel. After the settle, the contract rolls to May, which was above $41 in morning trade.

Today’s Data:

Monday

12:40 p.m.: Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart speaks on the economic outlook and monetary policy.

8:30 p.m.: St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks on economic inequality

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Stock Market: The Week Ahead

With next week’s calendar full of economic data releases and speeches by economic policymakers, investors have been poised to watch the Federal Reserve for clues about the U.S. central bank’s next move, but an unexpectedly hot reading on inflation on Friday will further sharpen that focus.

After coming into 2016 with an expectation of three or four interest rate hikes through the year, market participants recently were viewing the Fed as likely raising interest rates once, if at all, in light of weak inflation and global volatility.

But Friday’s data showed the core consumer price index (CPI), a measure of underlying U.S. inflation, rose in January by the most in nearly 4-1/2 years to a 2.2 percent annualized rate. It drew particular attention as the number was above the Fed’s 2.0 percent target, though it is not the central bank’s benchmark inflation measure.

The uptick in price pressures has already shifted the market’s expectations on the Fed’s next move.

The dollar rose alongside Treasury yields shortly after the data, as markets saw the higher inflation as nudging the Fed toward tightening policy. The euro hit its lowest since Feb. 3.

Equity markets have also closely followed expectations on Fed policy. Lower rates tend to support stocks in general, with high-paying dividend names like utilities gaining investors’ favor. In an environment of rising rates, banks tend to take the lead.

The expectation of higher interest rates has been cited as one of the reasons for stocks having fallen as much as 11 percent this year. The S&P 500 .SPX is down 6 percent so far in 2016, and on track for its third positive week of the year.

The inflation numbers add to recent economic data, including a stronger job market and consumer spending, that will force the Fed to seriously reconsider more rate hikes, said Jim Paulsen, chief investment officer at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis.

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Oil Drops, Stock Recover From Session Lows

U.S. equities traded in a wide range on Tuesday as U.S. oil prices seesawed and investors looked ahead to Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s testimony.

The small-cap/penny stock Russell 2000 index was lower by 1% midday.

WTI futures slipped 4.8 percent, or $1.45, to trade at $28.44 a barrel in choppy trading. Earlier, the International Energy Agency said that demand for oil will “ease back considerably” in 2016.

The S&P 500 dropped nearly 1 percent at the open, led lower by energy, before briefly turning positive.

The Nasdaq composite seesawed, opening down more than 1 percent, before reversing losses and gaining about 1 percent. The index sat lower in midday trading.

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Stocks are mostly higher this morning, as investors eyed declines in oil prices and remained uncertain ahead of the key Federal Reserve meeting next week.

The major averages reversed opening losses to attempt slight gains.

Energy briefly fell more than 1.5 percent to lead nearly all S&P 500 sectors lower.

Oil trimmed losses after earlier falling about 3 percent or more after Goldman Sachs became the latest bank to cut price forecasts. Brent crude held about 2 percent lower near $47.80 a barrel and WTI crude traded about 1.7 percent lower to above $45 a barrel after earlier falling more than 3 percent.

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S&P 500: Best August in 14 Years, Small Caps and Micro Caps Gain

As it usually is for the day before a holiday weekend, trading was light as stocks overall posted modest gains across the board.

Small Cap and Micro Cap indexes posted higher percentage gains with the Russell Micro Cap up 0.84% and the Russell 2000 (Small Cap) up 0.72% for the day.

“The U.S. economy continues to show strength, and deflation in Europe is getting worse, and spreading through the euro zone, as we saw in CPI numbers today, which brings us back to the fact that sooner or later (European Central Bank President Mario) Draghi is going to have to use some sort of quantitative easing. That’s a positive, also for U.S. stocks,” said Cardillo.

“The drug effect of liquidity in the marketplace continues to be the positive factor,” Cardillo added.

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