Active broad market exchange-traded funds at mid-day:
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (
SPY
): +0.24%, with a new 52-week high of $148.68
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (
EEM
): -0.74%
iShares MSCI Japan Index (
EWJ
): -0.87%
iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures (
VXX
): -1.71%, with a new 52-week low of $23.52
PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (
QQQ
): +0.58%
Broad Market Indicators
Broad-market exchange-traded funds, including SPY, IWM, IVV and
others, have reversed and are slipping lower. Actively traded
PowerShares QQQ (
QQQ
) is up 0.58%.
U.S. stocks are inching higher, lifted by upbeat earnings from
Google (GOOG), IBM (IBM), McDonald's (MCD) and Intuitive Surgical
(ISRG); Apple (AAPL) is also set to report its results in
Wednesday's after hours.
Investors are increasingly optimistic that the U.S. Congress
will vote to extend the debt ceiling, on the expectation that the
government will not risk disrupting the upside movement in the
markets since the start of the new year. Also helping brighten
market sentiment, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that
the U.S. housing price index increased by 0.6% in November.
Winners and Losers
Financial -
Select Financial Sector SPDRs (XLF) is down 0.14%, near its
52-week high. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X shares (FAS) is down
0.0.45%, also near its 52-week high. Its bearish counterpart, FAZ,
is up 0.47%, just above its 52-week low.
Among financial stocks, First Midwest Bancorp Inc. (FMBI), the
holding company of First Midwest Bank, is down 3.66% but near its
52-week high. The company reported Q4 EPS of $0.18, an improvement
over EPS of $0.05 for Q4 2011, but below estimates of $0.19 per
share. For the full year of 2012, FMBI reported a net loss of $0.28
per share, compared to earnings of $0.35 per share for the year
ended December 31, 2011. Full-year earnings beat estimates of a
loss of $0.27 per share.
Industrial -
Industrial
ETFs
are lower, but have mostly touched new 52-week highs: Vanguard
Industrials (VIS), off 0.21%, but with a new 52-week high of
$75.47; iShares Trust Dow Jones U.S. Industrial Sector Index Fund
(IYJ), down 0.21% also with a new 52-week high of $77.50; and
Select Sector SPDR-Industrial (XLI), up 0.26%, but near its 52-week
high.
Among stocks, General Dynamics (GD) is down 1.95% after it
announced 2012 Q4 and FY results. In Q4, GD reported non-GAAP EPS
of $1.39 per share, fully diluted, on revenues of $8.1 billion.
According to Yahoo Finance, analysts were expecting EPS of $1.88 on
revenues of $8.80 billion. For the full-year, GD earned $6.48 per
share fully diluted. FY revenues were $31.5 billion. Analysts had
pegged the FY EPS at $6.95 and revenues at $32.23 billion.
Energy -
Dow Jones U.S. Energy Fund (IYE) is up 1.27% while Energy Select
Sector SPDR (XLE) is down 0.50%.
In sector news, RPC. Inc. (RES) is up 4.53% nearing its 52-week
high, after the company reported Q4 earnings of $0.26 per share,
versus the Capital IQ consensus of $0.24. Revenues were $469.94
mln, versus the analyst estimate of $457.85 mln. In the same period
last year, the company reported EPS of $0.34 on revenues of $482.78
mln.
Commodities -
Crude was down 0.24%; natural gas was down 0.25%. United States
Oil Fund (USO) is down 0.31%. United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG)
is up 0.05%.
Gold was down 0.29% and silver was up 0.52%. Among rare metal
funds, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is down 0.13%; iShares Silver Trust
(SLV) is up 0.42%.
Healthcare -
Healthcare ETFs are lower but mostly in the higher end of their
52-week ranges: Health Care SPDR (XLV), off 0.24%, but with a new
52-week high of $42.43; Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT), down 0.26%,
also with a new 52-week high of $76.42; and iShares Dow Jones US
Healthcare (IYH), down 0.33%, testing its 52-week high. Biotech ETF
iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (IBB) is down 0.28%.
In M&A news, Allergan, Inc. (AGN) has signed a definitive
merger agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of biopharmaceutical
company MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (MAPP) for a price of $25 per
share. The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the
boards of directors of both companies, will be accomplished
pursuant to a cash tender offer followed by a second step merger.
AGN is down 1.28% but touched a 52-week high $106.40. MAPP is
surging 58.66% and reached a new 52-week high of $24.77.
Consumer -
Consumer ETFs are slipping lower: Consumer Staples Select Sector
SPDR (XLP), down 0.11%, near the 52-week high; iShares Dow Jones US
Consumer Goods (IYK), down 0.33%; and Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF
(VDC), down 0.14%.
Retail ETFs are weaker: SPDR S&P Retail (XRT), down 0.02%,
with a new 52-week high of $65.69; PowerShares Dynamic Retail
(PMR), down 0.11%; and Market Vectors Retail ETF (RTH), down 0.11
but earlier reached a new 52-week high of $45.80.
In sector news, Unilever (UL) is up 2.36% and touched a new
52-week high of $40.15 after the company reported FY12 earnings of
EUR 1.54 per share, up 5% from EUR 1.46 per share in the previous
year. The company reported underlying revenue growth of 6.9%. The
turnover for the full year was EUR 51.3 bln.
Power Play -
Technology -
The tech sector continues to rally on the back of strong
earnings results from tech giants Google (GOOG) and IBM (IBM).
Apple (AAPL) is also scheduled to report its results in today's
after hours session.
Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) is up 1%; other tech
ETFs area also higher: iShares Dow Jones US Technology ETF (IYW),
up 1.29%; iShares S&P North American Technology ETF (IGM), up
1.26%; and iShares S&P North American Technology-Software Index
(IGV), up 1.01%.
Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) is up
0.53% and Semiconductor Sector Index Fund (SOXX) is up 0.47%.
SPDR S&P International Technology Sector ETF (IPK) is up
0.33%, nearing its 52-week high.
Among top gainers following earnings, Google (GOOG) continues to
tick higher, now up 6.48%. The tech giant posted Q4 revenue of
$14.4 bln, or $15.24 bln if Motorola Home was included. The analyst
consensus was for revenue of $15.38 bln, according to Capital IQ.
Non-GAAP EPS was $10.65 per share, vs. expectations of $10.56 per
share.