The S&P 500 fell by 0.33% and the Dow was off 0.44%. The S&P 500 hit a new 52-week high in early trading before selling off mid-morning. Profit taking, concerns over continued profit growth, and the unsettled situation in Cyprus led to a negative close.
Cyclical sectors like airlines, industrials, transports, and software lagged the market whereas telecom, staples, and financials were the better performing areas. The transports took another hit today with another earnings miss in the group.
The selloff began when the Dutch Finance head, who is also head of the Eurogroup, seemed to say in an interview that the situation in Cyprus was not at all unusual and that the Europeans will have to deal with several such situations.
Commodities were mostly higher with precious metals, crude, and corn trading ahead of the tape. Gold traded off its lows to close down 0.26% and copper was off by 0.49%. Crude traded higher by close to 1% and natural gas was lower by 1.6%.
Financials traded lower but ahead of the market. Life insurers and banks traded lower. Broker Goldman Sachs continues to come under selling pressure as it moved below its 50-day moving average. REITs were the best performers in the sector.
Technology traded in line with the market but there were large divergences within the group. Software continued to sell off in response to the weak earnings release from Oracle last week. Dell and Visa were stand out performers. Visa broke out to a new high.
Energy was in line with the tape as crude traded up 1% and natural gas was off 1.5%. Oil service names and drillers were particularly weak. Refiners were ahead of the group even though crack spreads were a little lower.
Source: PFS Group
