Active broad-market exchange-traded funds at mid-day:
SPDR S&P 500 (
SPY
): +0.1%
Financial Select Sector SPDR (
XLF
): +0.9%
PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (
QQQ
): -0.6%
iShares Russell 2000 Index (
IWM
): -0.4%
Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (
VWO
): +0.4%
Broad Market Indicators
Broad-market exchange-traded funds, including SPY, IWM, IVV and
others, are mixed. Actively traded PowerShares QQQ (
QQQ
) is down 0.6%.
The market remains volatile as investors await the release of
minutes from the Federal Reserve's June rate-setting meeting,
though some optimism for another round of stimulus to help the
economy is capping losses. The minutes of the central banks's June
meeting are due to be released at 2 p.m. ET.
Winners and Losers
Select Financial Sector SPDRs (
XLF
) is up 0.8%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X shares (FAS) is up
1.4%. Its bearish counterpart, FAZ, is down 1.5%.
Actives in the sector are firmer: Bank of America (BAC), up
2.1%; Goldman Sachs (GS), up 0.8%; Morgan Stanley (MS), up 1.9%;
and Citigroup (C), up 1.2%.
Bank of America (BAC), Regions Financial (RF) and several other
big banks face a sizeable hit to earnings from expected new rules
related to overdraft fees, according to The Street, which cites a
Deutsche Bank report published Monday. New rules expected from the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) would require banks to
stop clearing customer transactions in order to maximize overdraft
fee revenue. According to the report, a Deutsche Bank analyst sees
Huntington Bancshares (HBAN), M&T Bank Corp. (MTB) and SunTrust
Banks (STI) facing a 3% hit to 2013 earnings from the new rule.
Technology -
Tech actives are mostly in the red: Apple (AAPL), down 0.8%;
Microsoft (MSFT), down 1.6%; Intel (INTC), down 0.9%; Google
(GOOG), down 2.4%; Cisco (CSCO), flat; and Yahoo (YHOO), down
0.6%.
Amazon.com (AMZN) is down 0.9%, giving up earlier gains
following a WSJ report that the company is testing smartphones with
its component suppliers in Asia, as part of its plans to expand its
mobile-device offerings. According to the WSJ, which cited unnamed
officials at Amazon's parts suppliers, the company is also planning
to mass produce the device starting late this year or early next
year. The AMZN smartphone being tested, which runs on Google's
(GOOG) Android platform, has a screen that measures between four to
five inches, the report added.
Adtran (ADTN) continues to slump, now down 15.7% and hitting
year lows after reporting late Tuesday Q2 earnings of $0.38 per
share, ex one-time items, versus the Capital IQ consensus of $0.36.
Revenues were $184 mln, versus the analyst estimate of $188.48 mln.
In the same period last year, the company reported EPS of $0.59 on
revenues of $184.23 mln.
ETFs in the space are weaker: iShares Dow Jones US Technology
ETF (IYW), down 0.7%; iShares S&P North American Technology ETF
(IGM), down 0.5%; iShares S&P North American
Technology-Software Index (IGV), down 0.6%; and Technology Select
Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), down 0.6%.
SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD), down 0.5%; Semiconductor
Sector Index Fund (SOXX), down 1.2%. SPDR S&P International
Technology Sector ETF (IPK) flat.
Commodities -
Crude is up 2.75%; likewise, natural gas is up around 2%. Among
ETFs, United States Oil Fund (USO) is up 2.4% while the United
States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) is up 2%.
Gold is down around 0.2% while silver is up around 0.9%. Among
rare metal funds, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is up 0.5%; iShares Silver
Trust (SLV) is up 0.7%.
The price of new corn earlier hit its highest levels since early
November following the government report yesterday that there was
greater than expected damage to corn crops. The USDA earlier
reduced a U.S. corn production forecast by 12.3% to 12.97 bln
bushels, down from 14.79 billion bushels due to the dry and hot
weather being experienced. World corn inventory was reduced by 14%
to 134.09 million metric tons despite reduction in imports and
domestic feed.
Corn, however, has slipped back into the red, down around 1.7%
to below around $7.05 a bushel. Among exchange traded funds,
Teucrium Corn Fund (CORN) is down 2.6%.
Consumer -
Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) is down 0.1% from near
year highs; iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK), up 0.1%; and
Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC), down 0.1% from near year
highs.
SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) is down 1%; PowerShares Dynamic Retail
(PMR), up 0.12%; and Market Vectors Retail ETF (RTH), down 0.5%
from year highs.
hhgregg (HGG) is down 38.5% and has hit year lows after the
company said in Tuesday's after hours session that it sees a Q1
loss of $0.17 - $0.16 per share, versus the Capital IQ consensus of
$0.05 loss per share. Revenues are expected to be $490 mln, versus
the analyst estimate of $510 mln. For FY13, the company sees EPS of
$0.90 - $1.05, versus the Street view of $1.20. This compares to
previous guidance of net income per diluted share of $1.12 -
$1.27.
Healthcare -
Health Care SPDR (XLV) is down 0.2%; iShares NASDAQ
Biotechnology Index (IBB), down 1.7%; Vanguard Health Care ETF
(VHT), down 0.4%; and iShares Dow Jones US Healthcare (IYH), down
0.11%.
Orexigen Therapeutics (OREX) is up 1%, trimming earlier gains of
about 8% to that saw it hit new year highs after it updated the
projected timeframe for completion of enrollment of the Light
Study, the Contrave cardiovascular outcomes clinical trial.
Orexigen now expects to complete enrollment of patients required
for the interim analysis of the Light Study in the first quarter of
2013, potentially reducing by half the original projections. Shares
of competitor Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) are down 4.9%.
Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) is up 0.2% after the UK High Court of
Justice issued a decision in favor of the company in a patent
litigation proceeding against Generics (UK) Limited, a subsidiary
of Mylan Laboratories (MYL), on July 11. Shares of Mylan are up
0.3%.
Power Play -
Energy -
ETFs and stocks in the sector are up: Mobil (XOM), up 0.2%;
Chevron (CVX), up 1.5%; Noble (NE), up 3.4%; Murphy Oil (MUR), up
2.7%; Tesoro (TSO), 3.3%; and Unit (UNT), up 3.41%.
Dow Jones U.S. Energy Fund (IYE) is up 1.38% while Energy Select
Sector SPDR (XLE) is up 1.51%.
Atlas Resource Partners, LP (ARP) is down 0.11% after filing a
registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to
sell, from time to time, up to 5.53 million common units on behalf
of selling unitholders.