Briefing.com: Stock Market Update – 13:30 ET

Jan 20, 2010 (Briefing.com via COMTEX) -- Stock Market Update

Updated: 20-Jan-10

The market at 13:30 ET

Dow: -193.47...

Nasdaq: -44.81... S&P: -19.09...

NYSE Vol: 600 mln.. Adv: 578.. Dec: 2416

Nasdaq Vol: 1.49 bln.. Adv: 523.. Dec: 2101

Moving the Market

Sector Watch

Bank of America posts deeper-than-expected loss, but many other banks exceed expectations China shows another sign of tighter monetary policy U.S. dollar makes sharp gain against foreign currencies PPI figures for December prove to be a bit mixed, while housing starts and building permits also prove mixed

Strong: agricultural products; oil and gas refiners

Weak: railroads; commercial printing; building products; steel; diversified metals and miners; coal and consumable fuel; gold; oil and gas equipment

13:30 ET

Dow -193.47 at 10531.06, Nasdaq -44.81 at 2275.47, S&P -19.09 at 1131.08

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks continue to trade near session lows as widespread weakness persists. What's more, such weakness has put the stock market on track for its worst single-session percentage loss since late October. However, the stock market is still up 1.3% since the start of the year.

Financials continue to contain their losses. While every other major sector in the S&P 500 is down in excess of 1%, financials are down a relatively tame 0.6%. That has helped financials become the best performers so far this year; they are up 4.4% year-to-date.

13:00 ET

Dow -189.46 at 10535.44, Nasdaq -44.83 at 2275.61, S&P -18.96 at 1131.35

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks have fallen en masse from fractionally improved 52-week highs in the previous session to their lowest levels since the first trading session of the new year. The downward move comes despite a bundle of better-than-expected earnings reports.

Wells Fargo (WFC 27.88, -0.40), U.S. Bancorp (USB 25.03, +0.54), State Street (STT 45.89, +2.69), Bank of New York (BK 30.38, +0.85), and Northern Trust (NTRS 55.29, +2.86) all unveiled positive earnings surprises ahead of the opening bell, but Morgan Stanley (MS 30.62, -0.54) and Bank of America (BAC 16.36, +0.04) both dropped the ball. Morgan Stanley came up short of earnings expectations, while Bank of America had a deeper-than-expected loss. However, Bank of America was able to redeem itself with a statement that it has seen its credit costs stabilize.

Thanks to strength among bank shares, financials have been able to limit their collective losses to 0.8% in the face of considerable, widespread weakness.

Health care stocks displayed strength as their gains from the previous session extended into this morning's early action. The momentum was helped by news that health care reform could be stalled or stymied since the Massachusetts Senate seat has gone to a Republican. However, the health care sector has since buckled, such that it now trades with a 1.3% loss.

The eagerness of participants to take profits from the previous session's spike has led many to disregard better-than-expected earnings from Dow component IBM (IBM 129.18, -4.96), which gave its quarterly report last evening. The stock is on pace for its worst percentage loss in three months and has dragged the tech sector, which is the largest by market weight, to a 2.2% loss.

Losses are steepest among materials stocks. The sector's current 2.3% drop has come as a result of both broader market weakness and broadly lower commodity prices, which are down a collective 1.5%, as measured by the CRB Commodity Index.

Both commodity prices and stock prices have been further hampered by strong gains by the greenback -- the dollar is currently up 1.1% against a basket of foreign currencies.

Overseas markets failed to offer reason to extend the previous session's buying effort as major indices in Asia and European bourses booked sizable losses. Some of the steepest declines came in China, where authorities reportedly ordered some banks to curb lending so as to prevent the country's economy from overheating. The move is suggestive of tighter monetary policy.

This morning's economic data didn't do anything to improve this session's tone of trade. Generally, December producer prices didn't diverge too much from consensus forecasts. Housing starts for December came in at a slower rate than expected, but building permits were up much more than expected.

Volatility has spiked amid this session's declines. The Volatility Index is currently up 10.2% in its sharpest spike in one month.

12:30 ET

Dow -181.22 at 10544.36, Nasdaq -41.77 at 2278.66, S&P -17.67 at 1132.56

[BRIEFING.COM] Gains were strong and broad-based in the previous session, such that more than 10% of the companies listed in the S&P 500 logged fresh 52-week highs. However, action this session has been decidedly negative since the opening bell; sellers have handed losses to more than 90% of the companies in the S&P 500.

This session's broad-based losses have led to some modest gains by Treasuries. As such, the benchmark 10-year Note is up 11 ticks at the moment. The move has trimmed its yield to 3.65%. At the long end of the yield curve, the 30-year Bond is up a more impressive 23 ticks. The Bond's yield stands at 4.54% as a result.

12:00 ET

Dow -195.89 at 10529.54, Nasdaq -44.28 at 2276.14, S&P -19.35 at 1130.88

[BRIEFING.COM] Within the S&P 500, Citigroup (C 3.46, -0.08) and Bank of America (BAC 16.54, +0.22) are the two most actively traded names by volume this session. Citigroup reported yesterday morning an in-line loss for its latest quarter, but Bank of America unveiled this morning a deeper-than-expected loss for its latest quarter. Bank of America has been one of the few financial firms to fall short of expectations, but it did win approval with its statement that it has seen its credit costs stabilize.

State Street (STT 15.57, +2.37) and Northern Trust (NTRS 55.15, +2.72) have been primary sources of support for the financial sector this session, though. Most recently, their strength has helped lead the financial sector off of its session low so that it now trades with a 0.6% loss, which is less than that of any other sector. Gains by STT and NTRS come amid upside earnings surprises from the pair.

11:30 ET

Dow -186.52 at 10540.80, Nasdaq -45.53 at 2274.98, S&P -18.83 at 1131.78

[BRIEFING.COM] The Dollar Index is up 1.1% in its best single-session move since a 1.7% surge in early December. The latest move comes on top of the greenback's 0.6% gain in the previous session.

Such recent strength has been troublesome for basic materials stocks, which have also been hampered by broader market weakness. The confluence of those pressures has caused steel stocks to surrender 3.7% and gold stocks to drop 6.2%. Diversified metals and miners, which carry some of the most weight in the materials sector, are down 3.5%, collectively. The broader materials sector is down 2.5%, worse than any other major sector in the S&P 500.

Losses have been the least in the financial and health care sectors. However, both sectors are still down a marked 1.0% after they had sported modest gains in the early going.

11:00 ET

Dow -181.60 at 10543.83, Nasdaq -42.88 at 2277.52, S&P -18.13 at 1132.10

[BRIEFING.COM] Selling pressure continues to weigh on stocks. In turn, the S&P 500 and the Dow are at fresh session lows, while the Nasdaq has come back in touch with the session lows that it set earlier. Their losses have completely erased the broad-based gains that were booked in the previous session and are now testing the lows that were registered earlier this week.

Volatility has spiked with this session's selling effort. That has the Volatility Index, often dubbed the fear index, up 9.3% in its sharpest spike in one month.

10:30 ET

Dow -168.23 at 10557.20, Nasdaq -41.85 at 2278.55, S&P -15.79 at 1134.44

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market at morning lows, while the US Dollar Index is at its morning highs, all of which is pressuring the commodity complex. All commodities, excluding nickel and orange juice, are trading lower in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Commodity Index this morning.

February crude oil continues to slide downward and is trading near its recently hit morning low of $77.06 per barrel. Currently, the energy component is 2.4% lower at $77.16 per barrel. February natural gas traded higher in the overnight session, but dipped into negative territory early this morning. Natural gas then attempted to rally, but couldn't hold its gains and fell to fresh lows at $5.478 per MMBtu. Nat gas is trading just above this level, currently at $5.505 per MMBtu, 0.9% lower.

Precious metals are taking a hit as well this morning, as February gold and March silver recently put in their own new session lows. Gold is currently 2.5% lower at $1112 per ounce, while silver is 3.8% lower at $18.08 per ounce.

10:00 ET

Dow -113.89 at 10610.22, Nasdaq -21.07 at 2298.08, S&P -10.08 at 1139.79

[BRIEFING.COM] A recent flurry of selling pressure knocked the broader market another leg lower, but stocks have managed to make a modest bounce off of their morning lows. The downward move undercut health care stocks, though; the sector has been left to trade with a fractional loss after it had been up firmly in the first few minutes of action.

Financials have managed to hold on to a slight gain of 0.2%. Diversified banks (+1.3%) remain strong.

Selling pressure is currently most intense among energy issues. Their slide comes as broad equity market pressure and softer oil prices, which are down 1.7% to $77.70 per barrel, conspire to take the sector to a 1.8% loss. Oil and gas drillers (-2.4%) and oil and gas equipment outfits (-2.2%) are among the weakest performers in the bunch. As such, Diamond Offshore (DO 101.38, -2.14) and Schlumberger (SLB 69.44, -1.50) are laggards in the group.

Early movers: Trading up -- LXRX +37.6%, CREE +15.1%, RMBS +11.3%, EAT +9.1%, MMR +8.5%, EXXI +8.4%, FXP +6.8%, NSTC +6.3%, ZSL +5.8%, IOC +5.4%; Trading down -- BBD -10.9%, AXU -10.1%, LXP -9%, CMFO -7.7%, PFSW -7.1%, NBG -6.8%, CSX -6.4%, SPW -5.9%

Advancing Sectors: Financials (+0.2%)

Declining Sectors: Energy (-1.8%), Materials (-1.5%), Industrials (-1.5%), Tech (-1.4%), Utilities (-1.3%), Consumer Staples (-1.0%), Telecom (-0.9%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.7%), Health Care (-0.1%)

09:45 ET

Dow -107.46 at 10617.97, Nasdaq -20.50 at 2299.90, S&P -9.99 at 1140.24

[BRIEFING.COM] The broader market has slipped in the first few minutes of trade, but health care has managed to extend its strong gains from the previous session as participants continue to consider the possibility that health care reform may be stalled or stymied by Republican Scott Brown's Massachusetts Senate seat win. In addition to their 2.0% gain in the previous session, health care stocks are up 0.6% this morning.

Managed care providers have underpinned the health care sector's strength for two straight sessions. Managed care providers climbed 3.7% in the previous session and are already up another 1.9% this morning. Cigna (CI 39.15, +1.23) is currently a primary leader in the pack.

Financials recently joined health care stocks in higher ground. The move comes as diversified banks bounce to a 1.1% gain. Still, the broader sector is up a modest 0.4%. Nonetheless, financials and health care stocks make up the only two sectors to sport gains.

09:15 ET

Market is Closed

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -9.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -14.80. Stock futures point to a pullback from the previous session's broad-based advance, which took the stock market to a fractionally improved 52-week intraday high and closing high. The turn in tone comes in the face of a flurry of better-than-expected earnings results, though Bank of America (BAC) disappointed with a worse-than-expected loss. Disappointment has also been linked to news that China has instructed some of its banks to curb lending in order to meet capital requirements and prevent the country's economy from overheating. That news weighed on Asian markets and European bourses alike. Though participants looked past a stronger dollar in the previous session, additional gains by the greenback haven't helped things this morning -- the Dollar Index is currently up nearly 1.0% against competing currencies in its strongest single-session move in more than one month. Economic data, which includes PPI figures for December and December housing starts and building permits, have been a bit mixed.

09:00 ET

Market is Closed

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -9.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -14.00. Broad-based selling had knocked European markets lower early in the previous session, but the bourses rebounded to book strong gains in Tuesday's trade. However, selling has resumed this session. That has sent Britain's FTSE to a 0.8% loss. Metals and miners players are among the weakest listings as Rio Tinto (RTP), BHP Billiton (BHP) and Xstrata slide. Their decline comes even though Reuters reported that BHP lifted its iron ore output in its most upbeat outlook for commodities since the global downturn. German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp was more pessimistic as it said its Alabama plant will not reach full production until 2013 because of weak North American demand. Germany's DAX is down 0.6% at the moment. Meanwhile, France's CAC is currently down 0.7%. Renault is a laggard after its shares were downgraded by analysts at UBS. In Asia, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index shed 0.7%, while Japan's Nikkei lost 0.3%. Nomura, Matsui Securities, and Daiwa Securities Group all fell markedly. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 1.8% after the chief Chinese banking regulator said some banks were asked to curb lending after they failed to meet capital requirements. That weighed heavily on China Construction Bank and Bank of China. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell 2.9%. According to news, authorities instructed some banks to restrict lending for the rest of January.

08:35 ET

Market is Closed

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -6.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -11.00. Stock futures continue to lag fair value by a moderate margin in the wake of the latest dose of data. The December Producer Price Index increased 0.2% month-over-month, which is higher than the consensus call for a flat reading after the sharp 1.8% monthly increase in November. Excluding food and energy, producer prices for December were flat from the previous month, but that was a bit of a surprise since an increase of 0.1% had been widely forecast following the 0.5% monthly increase that was posted in November. In other economic news, housing starts for December hit an annualized rate of 557,000, which is a slower clip than the expected rate of 572,000 units and a pullback from the annualized rate of 580,000 that was registered in November. Meanwhile, building permits hit an annualized rate of 653,000 in December. That was far higher than the annualized rate of 580,000 permits that the consensus had predicted and up from the previous month's annualized rate of 589,000 permits.

08:00 ET

Market is Closed

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -5.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -11.00. Strong, broad-based buying in the previous session took stocks to a fresh 52-week closing high, but participants have turned a bit to put moderate pressure on stock futures this morning. Pressure comes in the face of several better-than-expected earnings reports, including those of tech bellwether IBM (IBM), high-end retailer Coach (COH), and banking and financial services outfits U.S. Bancorp (USB), State Street (STT), and Bank of New York (BK). However, Bank of America (BAC) disappointed with a deeper-than-expected loss, while Morgan Stanley (MS) and Wells Fargo (WFC) have yet to report their latest figures. Keeping on banks, Reuters reported that China's authorities ordered some big banks to curb lending for the rest of January in a move that has been viewed as an effort to tighten policy so as to prevent the country's economy from overheating. China's Shanghai Composite dropped nearly 3% in the wake of the news. In addition to a couple of key earnings announcements, there are several key reports still to come this morning, including producer prices for December and housing starts and building permits for December. The latter half is due at the bottom of the hour.

06:21 ET

Market is Closed

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -6.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -13.00.

06:21 ET

Market is Closed

[BRIEFING.COM] FTSE...5494.00...-19.10...-0.40%. DAX...5965.09...-11.20...-0.20%.

06:21 ET

Market is Closed

[BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei...10737.52...-27.40...-0.30%. Hang Seng...21286.17...-391.80...-1.80%.

16:30 ET

Dow +115.78 at 10725.43, Nasdaq +32.41 at 2320.40, S&P +14.20 at 1150.23

[BRIEFING.COM] There weren't many truly positive catalysts this session, but participants showed support for stocks as they stepped in to buy the many names that were sent lower in the previous session. Their efforts drove stocks to a fresh 52-week closing high.

Stocks started the session in mixed fashion, but a steady stream of buyers helped stocks fully recover from their 1.1% loss this past Friday. Though technical resistance at 52-week intraday highs contained the move, the advance remained broad based and strong into the close.

The buying effort showed that participants remain willing to keep the stock market's pullbacks short and shallow as they try to take a position for future gains. Earnings represent a primary caveat to future gains, though.

Citigroup (C 3.54, +0.12) was the latest financial giant to post its latest quarterly results. The company booked a loss of $0.33 per share, but that was in-line with Wall Street's expectations. Shares of C were initially pressured by the report, but they were able to snap back and book a gain. The broader financial sector settled with a 1.1% gain.

Health care fared the best this session. It advanced 2.0% amid speculation that a Republican election to the vacant Massachusetts Senate seat could stall or stymie health care reform.

Tech was another strong source of support for the stock market. The sector climbed 1.6% as IBM (IBM 134.14, +2.36) hit a fresh 52-week high ahead of its quarterly announcement. IBM was one of more than 50 companies in the S&P 500 to book a fresh 52-week high and one of seven Dow components to hit a new yearly high.

Kraft (KFT 29.41, -0.17) was one of just a handful of Dow components to finish lower. It was weighed down by news that Cadbury (CBY 54.83, +2.93) has consented to a takeover by the food giant. Kraft will have to pay $19.44 billion in cash and stock for the confectioner, though.

Though smaller, an acquisition was announced by Tyco International (TYC 38.19, +0.65), which will pay $2.0 billion for Brink's Home Security Holdings (CFL 41.54, +10.12). Tyco went on to forecast fiscal first quarter adjusted earnings from $0.63 to $0.65 per share, which exceeds the current consensus of $0.50 per share and the range of $0.48 to $0.50 per share that the company had previously forecast. The company maintained its in-line guidance for fiscal 2010, though.

Roughly 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 booked gains this session. Though that helped the broader market put together one of its better sessions since the start of the year, more impressive is that the advance came in the face of a firmer dollar -- the greenback actually gained a healthy 0.5% against a basket of foreign currencies.

Advancing Sectors: Health Care (+2.0%), Tech (+1.6%), Materials (+1.6%), Telecom (+1.5%), Utilities (+1.2%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.2%), Financial (+1.1%), Industrials (+0.9%), Energy (+0.9%), Consumer Staples (+0.6%)

Declining Sectors: (None).

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