The S&P 500 was off by 0.45% and the Dow was lower by just 0.04%. Some economic numbers released today were weaker than expected but there were some positive revisions from a major brokerage firm regarding domestic growth. The March ISM index came in at 51.3 vs. an estimate of 54.0. Any number above 50 shows an expanding economy. J.P. Morgan increased their forecast for Q1 GDP to 3.8% from 2.7%.
Telecom stocks were the best performing area of the market today. Investors flocked to the predictability of their earnings and high dividend rates. AT&T was up well over 1% today. Tower stocks were also higher after AT&T announced continued investment to increase Internet speeds. American Tower was particularly strong on the news as it rose more than 1%.
Health care was essentially flat on the day but managed care stocks were aggressively higher. Humana, Aetna, and United Health all moved sharply higher on rate update announcements.
Commodities were mostly lower with silver, copper, crude, and grains trading lower. Gold and natural gas traded ahead of the tape. Grains were considerably lower as corn was hammered down by over 7%. Corn was lower on greater than anticipated planting levels by farmers.
Financials performed in line with the markets. Regional banks were the laggards and REITs were the best preforming area of the sector. REITs are reporting higher occupancy rates with surging rentals rates.
Semiconductors lagged the tech sector and the market today. Semiconductor volume shipment data disappointed and Intel was downgraded. Semis declined by better than 2%.
All four groups in the transport sector (rails, parcels, airlines, truckers) were lower on the day. There were no earnings releases in the area. There was a positive article in Barron’s on airline stocks but the names were slightly lower.
Energy was quiet on the day. Crude was off by 0.25%. Integrated oil names were higher after Hess announced the sale of their Russian subsidiary. Exxon and Chevron were also higher. Shippers gave up a good portion of their recent move higher after an analyst downgrade this morning.
Source: PFS Group
