"With minimal news out of Europe and not a lot of domestic
economic data, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes
were in the spotlight, and the SPX finished lower for a fifth day
in a row," remarked Schaeffer's Senior Equities Analyst Joe Bell.
"Second-quarter earnings were on the light side today, but will
begin to pick up over the next couple weeks." The
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)
followed its fellow benchmark lower, marking five straight losses.
Keep reading to see what else was on our radar today:
- See why stock screeners can be a
useful tool for options trading
.
- Plus,
7 potential contrarian plays
using Schaeffer's
Expectational Analysis
®
approach.
And now, a look at the numbers...
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 12,604.53)
spent only a few minutes in positive territory today, and found
itself down by 119 points -- at the 12,534.33 level -- just after 2
p.m. EST. By the time the dust settled, however, the Dow reclaimed
most of its losses, ending lower by 48.6 points, or 0.4%. All but
nine components tumbled lower, as Boeing (
BA
) and United Technologies (
UTX
) led the way with deficits of 2.3% and 2.2%, respectively.
Hewlett-Packard's (
HPQ
) 3% uptick paced winning blue chips.
The
S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1,341.45)
turned in a technical defeat today, after paring all but a fraction
of its losses. Meanwhile, the
Nasdaq Composite (COMP - 2,887.98)
gave up 14.4 points, or 0.5% -- the worst performance of its fellow
benchmarks. At their intraday lows, the SPX and COMP traded at
1,333.25 and 2,866.53, respectively
The
CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX - 17.95)
dropped 4.1% today, landing just above its session low of 17.84. At
one point, around 2:30 p.m. EST, the VIX was up 2.4% on the day at
$19.17.
Today's highlight
: "The Federal Reserve didn't rule out another round of
quantitative easing, and most market participants believe the
central bank is open to more economic stimulus," said Bell. "But
the down side is that many think conditions will have to worsen for
these measures to take place."
Turning to today's major market stories...
For today's activity in commodities, options, and more, head
to page 2.
Oil futures moved into positive territory today, bolstered by
the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) report showing a
larger-than-expected drop in crude stockpiles. Black gold bounced
higher after yesterday's sharp sell-off due to the resolution of an
oil workers strike in Norway. Crude for August delivery jumped
$1.23, or 1.5%, to land at $85.14 a barrel.
Gold futures stayed south for a second straight session as many
speculators exercised caution ahead of the minutes from the Federal
Open Market Committee (FOMC) recent meeting. In a light session,
August-dated gold inched $4.10, or 0.3%, lower to settle at
$1,575.70 an ounce.
Levels to watch in trading...
-
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 12,604.53)
- support at 11,500; resistance at 14,000
-
S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1,341.45)
- support at 1,100; resistance at 1,500
-
Nasdaq Composite (COMP - 2,887.98)
- support at 2,400; resistance at 3,400
Click the links for coverage on today's
notable annual highs
and
notable annual lows
.
At the end of every market day, the staff at Schaeffer's
Investment Research reviews the trading day in detail, covering
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