The Dow lost 0.63% today and the S&P 500 fell by 0.83%. Continued concerns regarding the situation in Cyprus and weak earnings announcements put the market under pressure today. Oracle led the tech sector lower after they reported weaker than expected earnings last night after the close. The transportation sector sold off again today. Homebuilders traded lower after the sharp rise yesterday, Telecom stocks outperformed today as investors gravitated toward higher yielding stocks and consumer staples stocks were leaders.
Treasuries rallied across the yield curve. 10-year Treasuries are currently yielding 1.93%. The Fed bought $1.5 billion worth of long bonds.
Commodities were mostly higher with precious metals, copper, corn outperforming. Gold closed near its highs and closed up 0.49%. Silver spiked by 1.14%. Crude lagged the tape losing 1.14% to close at $92.42 a barrel. Natural gas was higher by 0.88%.
Housing stocks suffered from profit taking after the huge run higher yesterday. Housing data released today show that things continue to improve in the housing market. Existing home sales and the FHFA home price index data released today were favorably received and the stocks initially moved higher prior to late day profit taking.
Financials traded in line with the market prior to a late session selloff in some the brokers led them to underperforming the broad market averages. Goldman Sachs was a leader to the downside in the sector and traded beneath its recent low.
Technology trailed the market today. Oracle was hammered lower by more than 9% after they released earnings last night. Apple was slightly higher as it has cleared a technical downtrend. Rumors about an announcement related to deploying some of their cash have boosted the stock over the last week. eBay continued to rebound after selling off last week. There have been several analyst upgrades on the stock over the past few days. eBay traded higher by close to 1% on the day.
Materials were mixed with metals trading higher and chemicals lagging. Steel stocks bounced after better than expected Chinese PMI numbers were released. Chemicals were lead to the downside by Airgas.
Energy was off slightly but led traded ahead of the market. Crude traded lower by 1.25% and natural gas was off by 1%. Refiners were up aggressively yesterday and sold off today when crack spread data was slightly disappointing.
Consumer discretionary stocks lagged the market and consumer staples outperformed. Retailers were generally weak. Ross Stores was the standout in the space moving higher by 3.5%. Nike fell by 2% but was up sharply after hours after they released better than expected earnings with strong guidance. Coca-Cola and General Mills led staples higher.
Source: PFS Group
