Active broad-market exchange-traded funds at mid-day:
SPDR S&P 500 (
SPY
): -0.3%
Financial Select Sector SPDR (
XLF
): -0.4%
PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (
QQQ
): -0.3%
iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures (
VXX
): -0.8%, hit year lows
iShares Russell 2000 Index (
IWM
): -0.4%
Broad Market Indicators
Broad-market exchange-traded funds, including SPY, IWM, IVV and
others, continue to be weaker. Actively traded PowerShares QQQ (
QQQ
) is down 0.3%.
U.S. stocks continue to trade lower following a spate of
downbeat domestic economic news. Also, the IMF lowered its global
economic outlook, citing downside risks coming out of Europe. It
cut its forecast for U.S. growth. Markets were dragged down early
with the release of disappointing U.S. retail sales data, which
showed a decline of 0.5%, missing economists' forecasts. More
upbeat news came out of New York, as the Empire manufacturing
activity rose more than expected in July - but this did little to
lift stocks.
Winners and Losers
Consumer -
According to the Commerce Department, U.S. retail sales fell by
a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in June, the third straight decline in
figures. Excluding autos, sales dropped 0.4%. Economists had
forecast a 0.2% increase in overall retail sales and no change
excluding autos, according to a survey by MarketWatch.
ETFs are lower in mid-day action: Consumer Staples Select Sector
SPDR (XLP), down 0.5% from near year highs; iShares Dow Jones US
Consumer Goods (IYK), down 0.3%; and Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF
(VDC), down 0.11% from year highs.
SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) is down 0.6%; PowerShares Dynamic
Retail (PMR), down 0.7%; and Market Vectors Retail ETF (RTH), is
down 0.7% after reaching a new 52-week high of $42.42.
J.C. Penney (JCP) is off 2% and near year lows while Martha
Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) is down 0.85% after the New York
state Supreme Court granted Macy's (M) preliminary injunction
against MSO, ordering JCP and MSO to suspend the development of a
planned home and kitchen product line, according to reports last
Friday. Macy's had filed a case against MSO for violating an
exclusive agreement to provide Macy's certain product lines by
selling the new home and kitchen line through JCP. According to
WSJ, the court ruled that MSO has to suspend halt plans of
releasing a line of home and kitchen products for JCP. The court
also proposed a trial in November, WSJ added. M shares have turned
slightly positive.
Ford (F) is up 0.32% but still near year lows after it said it
will be recalling more than 10,000 redesigned 2013 Escape SUVs to
fix carpet padding that could get in the way of braking, according
to media reports.
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) is down 0.2% after the company announced
that its Macau unit has been given by the local government a
three-year extension to complete a key project in the world's
largest casino gambling hub, a boon for the company's development
plans, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Technology -
Tech actives are mostly in the green: Apple (AAPL), up 0.9%;
Microsoft (MSFT), up 0.1%; Intel (INTC), down 0.1%; Google (GOOG),
down 0.3%; Cisco (CSCO), down 0.8%; and Yahoo (YHOO), down
0.7%.
Nokia (NOK) is flat as Reuters reported the company has slashed
the price of its Lumia 900 Windows phone by 50% after only three
months since it was launched. The Reuters report stated that the
move was made to stem NOK's losses in market share to Apple (AAPL)
and Samsung Electronics. The Lumia 900 Windows phone, which is sold
at AT&T stores, is now at the reduced price of $49.99, with a
two year agreement, down from its launch price of $99, the report
stated, citing Nokia spokesman Keith Nowak.
j2 (JCOM) is up 9.3% after it said that it expects Q2 revenue of
$88.8 to $89.5 mln, ahead of the analyst consensus of $87.7 mln on
Capital IQ. EPS is seen in the range of $0.68 to $0.71, vs.
expectations of $0.63 per share.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) is slightly lower and easing
away from near year highs after it announced the completion of the
acquisition of a 3-property data center portfolio located in the
greater London area, referred to as the Sentrum Portfolio. The
purchase price was 715.9 million pounds Sterling.
ETFs in the space are weaker: iShares Dow Jones US Technology
ETF (IYW), down 0.2%; iShares S&P North American Technology ETF
(IGM), down 0.5%; iShares S&P North American
Technology-Software Index (IGV), down 0.5%; and Technology Select
Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) down 0.04%.
SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) is down 1% and Semiconductor
Sector Index Fund (SOXX) is down 0.8%.
SPDR S&P International Technology Sector ETF (IPK) is
flat.
Energy -
Dow Jones U.S. Energy Fund (IYE) has turned slightly positive
while Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) is up 0.3%.
First Solar (FSLR) is the top gaining stock on the S&P 500,
now gapping up 7.6%. Earlier, NRG Energy (NRG) announced that the
solar farm FSLR is building for the company reached 200 megawatts
as the world's largest operating photovoltaic power plant. NRG
shares are down 0.6%.
Chesapeake Energy (CHK) has turned positive and is up 0.6%. The
company is pushing Ohio landowners to accept revised lease
contracts that would help the cash-strapped driller save money
while holding on to its prized oil and gas fields, according to the
WSJ.
Commodities -
Crude was down 0.6% while natural gas was up 0.6%. Among ETFs,
United States Oil Fund (USO) is up 0.8% and United States Natural
Gas Fund (UNG) is down 2.7%.
Gold was down around 0.1%; likewise, silver was down near 0.5%.
Among rare metal funds, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is up 0.3% and
iShares Silver Trust (SLV), up 0.15%.
Healthcare -
ETFs are seeing weakness in the session's half: Health Care SPDR
(XLV), up 0.1% to year highs; iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index
(IBB), up 0.7%; and iShares Dow Jones US Healthcare (IYH), up 0.7%.
Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) is near year highs.
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. (TKMR) is up nearly 30% and has
hit new year highs after it announced that Alnylam Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (ALNY) presented clinical results from its Phase 1 clinical
trial with ALN-TTR02, an RNAi therapeutic targeting transthyretin
(TTR)to treat TTR-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR), which uses TKMR's
lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology. ALNY also soared to new year
highs.
Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) is up 4.6% following a report by
The Economic Times that states that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) may
announce an agreement to acquire for about $2.8 billion, or $14 per
share. Shares of GSK are up 0.4%.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO) has turned negative after
announcing that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire
transplant diagnostics, One Lambda, for $925 million in cash. The
transaction, which is expected to be completed in the fourth
quarter of 2012, is expected to be immediately accretive upon close
and add $0.09 to $0.11 to Thermo Fisher's 2013 adjusted earnings
per share.
Power Play -
Financial -
Select Financial Sector SPDRs (
XLF
) is down 0.2%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X shares (FAS) is
down 0.4%. Its bearish counterpart, FAZ, is up 0.5%.
Actives in the sector have mostly reversed and are lower: Bank
of America (BAC), has recovered and is now flat; Goldman Sachs
(GS), down 0.01%; Morgan Stanley (MS), up 0.9%; and Citigroup (C),
up 0.8%.
Citigroup (C) is holding on to earlier gains after reporting Q2
earnings of $0.95 per share on revenue of $18.6 billion. Ex items,
EPS was $1.00. The analyst consensus on Capital IQ was for earnings
of $0.90 per share on revenue of $18.9 bln.
The Justice Department and HSBC (HBC) are accelerating
settlement talks to resolve a criminal probe into laundering of
drug-cartel and other money, according to a WSJ report which cites
people familiar with the investigation. Shares of the bank are down
0.1%.