The S&P 500 was off just over 0.60% on the day and is off 1.4% from yesterday’s highs. The average is up for the week after some of the intraday volatility this week. The market did close well off its lows today, spurred on by news that President Obama and Speaker Boehner were going to “speak” this afternoon. Earlier in the day it was reported that Boehner was going to go back to Ohio tomorrow but would be “reachable” if the President wanted to talk to him. I can’t make this stuff up.
Today was the worst day of the last month. Every major sector in the S&P finished lower on the day. Transports, steels and homebuilders outperformed the market while semis, biotech and media lagged. Transports were higher today, led by the airlines. There were positive comments from Delta Airlines on their investor day. US Steel was a leader in the steel space on rumors of a potential buyout and signs that growth in China is improving.
The Obama-Boehner chat and overnight China flash PMI data for December will set the stage for early trading tomorrow. The market apparently took more press conferences as a negative today. The market likes it when there is little news flow from Washington. The less talk that comes out of DC the more they are perceived to be working.
Commodities were off across the board. Precious metals, copper, grains, crude and natural gas all traded below the tape. Gold finished near the lows of the day down roughly 0.90% and silver was off by 2.8%. Crude had a negative intraday reversal and closed lower on the day after an initial surge higher early in the day.
Industrials, while down on the day, again outperformed the broader market. Continued positive data points regarding the growth outlook for China had a positive impact on all areas of the industrial sector.
Source: PFS Group
