The
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)
marked its second loss in a row today, and its lowest close since
the beginning of September. "The market opened slightly up, but
struggled to gain its footing all day and slid into the red during
late-day trading," said Schaeffer's Senior Equity Analyst Joe Bell.
"We had another day of mixed earnings reports, with Facebook (FB),
Netflix (NFLX), and Juniper Networks (JNPR) all grabbing headlines.
The Federal Reserve issued a policy statement and new home sales
data was also released, but neither did much to sway to the
market."
Click through to see what else was on our radar today:
And now, a look at the numbers...
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 13,077.34)
was up more than 52 points at its session peak of 13,155.21, but
retreated roughly 39 points to an intraday low of 13,063.63 in the
last hour of trading. By the close, the Dow was down 25.2 points,
or 0.2%, to mark its first finish south of 13,100 since Sept. 5.
Eight of the 30 blue chips enjoyed wins today, with United
Technologies Corporation's (
UTX
) 1.1% gain topping the list. Conversely, the parade of
underperformers was led by Cisco Systems, Inc.'s (
CSCO
) 3.5% deficit.
The
S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1,408.75)
and
Nasdaq Composite (COMP - 2,981.70)
also ended in the red today, after seeing both sides of breakeven
throughout the session. The SPX dropped under its 80-day moving
average for the first time since July 25, settling with a loss of
4.4 points, or 0.3%. Meanwhile, the COMP marked a second straight
close below 3,000 today, but found support at its 200-day
trendline, trimming off 8.8 points, or 0.3%.
The
CBOE Market Volatility Index
(VIX - 18.33)
slipped 0.5 point, or 2.7%, but maintained its perch above the 18
mark and its 200-day moving average.
Today's highlight
: "Monster Beverage Corp (
MNST
) finally responded to the recent media firestorm about the safety
of drinking their beverages," noted Bell. "The company emphatically
stated that their energy drinks do NOT kill people. For those
energy drinkers who are still alive, this must be very good
news."
Noteworthy stats at the close:
- The equity put/call volume ratio across all 10 options
exchanges ended at 0.97, with roughly 6.45 million calls and 6.28
million puts traded.
- The put/call volume ratio on the iPath S&P 500 VIX
Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSEARCA:VXX - 37.47) checked in at 0.83,
with calls outpacing puts.
- The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) showed an advance/decline
ratio of 0.80, as the number of downward movers eclipsed upwardly
tilted stocks. In similar fashion, the advance/decline ratio on
the Nasdaq stood at 0.78.
Explore our
Trading Floor Blog
and
Daily Options Blog
for coverage on today's big stories, including:
And, in case you missed it
...
Most-Active Options Update
: Facebook Inc (FB), Intel Corporation (INTC), and General Electric
Company (GE).
For today's activity in commodities, options, and more, head
to page 2.
Oil futures continued on their recent slide, taking a hit on a
bigger-than-expected climb in domestic stockpiles, according to the
Energy Information Administration (EIA). With overabundance of
supplies and lagging global demand, crude for December delivery
fell 94 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $85.73 a barrel. This marked
the lowest close for the commodity since July 11.
Though
gold futures are higher
in electronic trading following the Fed's decision to stand pat on
its monetary policy, the commodity was lower on the day on global
economic concerns and a stronger greenback. December-dated gold
fell $7.80, or 0.5%, to close at $1,701.60 an ounce.
Levels to watch in trading...
-
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 13,077.34)
- support at 11,500; resistance at 14,000
-
S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1,408.75)
- support at 1,100; resistance at 1,500
-
Nasdaq Composite (COMP - 2,981.70)
- support at 2,400; resistance at 3,400
At the end of every market day, the staff at Schaeffer's
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