The S&P 500 was off 0.47% in very subdued trading today. The market was up sharply out of the gate this morning and the S&P was repelled at its 50 day moving average. News flow on the fiscal cliff was light. Materials and industrials were the two worst performing sectors while TMT and financials managed to outpace the market. Industrials traded lower on the back of weak US economic data, while steel stocks hurt the materials sector.
The ISM fell short of expectations. Some, but not all, of the shortfall can be attributed to the super storm. The employment component of the ISM fell month over month and dropped into contraction territory with a reading of 48.4.
European markets continue to outpace our markets. Sovereign debt markets in Europe continue to find buyers. The news today came regarding details of Greece’s upcoming debt buyback. Greek 10-year yields are still high at 14.5% but they are down dramatically from the 34% seen in March of this year. Italian 10-year yields hit 4.4% down from a high of 7.2% last November.
Economic data from China continues to come in better than expected as its market continues to trade down. Officials will release their 2013 growth forecasts in the coming weeks. Currently people are looking for numbers similar to this year’s growth level of 7.5%.
Homebuilders bucked the trend today and finished higher. Continued strong volumes from lenders and low interest rates are having a positive impact on the space.
Energy finished just below the broader market. Crude traded fractionally higher and natural gas was up 1%.
Source: PFS Group
