The S&P 500 gained 0.38% and the Dow was off 0.05%. There was little in the way of news flow today. Volumes were light and attendance was very sparse. There were rumors of erroneous options trades in the morning that artificially hurt prices. There are rumored large losses at Goldman Sachs due to these option trading errors.
Retail was one area of the market that was driven by news. Some retailers reported better than expected earnings prior to the open. Best Buy, Urban Outfitters, TJX, and JC Penney were up between 6% and 13%. Best Buy, TJX, and Urban Outfitters all exceeded expectations and gave stronger than expected guidance. The results were especially surprising due to several retailers issuing disappointing numbers recently. Dick’s Sporting Goods sold off sharply after they reported a weak quarter.
Building stocks were aggressively higher on the day. Most homebuilders were up between 2.0% and 4.0%. The strength in the group helped the discretionary space along with the retailers.
Multi line industrials were weak today and covered up the strength of the transport group sector. Transports were up 0.90%. Airlines, rails, parcels, and truckers were all higher. There have been some concerns regarding regulation in the area. There is talk of some additional regulation in the rail sector and major regulatory changes in the airline industry.
Financials stumbled right from the opening and then bounced back to finish up nicely. Financials gained close to 1%. With rates going down for the first time in a while REITs were in favor today. Charles Schwab gained more than 1% and Bank of America climbed by 1%. The bank index was higher by 1%.
After selling off sharply over the past few weeks’ energy stocks saw strong buying today. Bargain hunters came into the area. Crude was lower by 2% and natural gas was lower by 0.75%.
Media conglomerates traded higher today. Disney was the exception, as it continues to come under pressure. Content-centric names lagged and newspapers were higher. Internet stocks were higher as higher beta was in favor today. Yahoo and Google traded in line with the market while online travel stocks and retailers outperformed social media stocks.
Source: PFS Group
