The U.S. stock market traded lower for the second day in a row
on Tuesday. It was another slow day for macro news and overall
volume was light. The losses were contained on the session and the
major averages remain firmly in positive territory for 2013.
Consumer Credit
The lone U.S. economic report on Tuesday was November Consumer
Credit. The number, which is often volatile, came in well ahead of
consensus expectations as consumer credit increased by $16 billion
in November. This easily topped consensus estimates for an increase
of $10.6 billion. The rise in credit was enough to push consumer
debt to an all-time high.
Earnings Season
Earnings season kicked off with a report from agricultural
products company Monsanto (NYSE:
MON
). The company reported first-quarter results which were ahead of
Wall Street analysts' consensus estimates and also lifted its
full-year outlook.
Major Averages
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost a little more than 55
points to close at 13,329.
The S&P 500 lost almost 5 points, or 0.32 percent, to close
just above 1,457.
The Nasdaq was the best performer on the session, falling just 7
points, or 0.23 percent, to just below 3,092.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar was slightly higher versus a basket of foreign
currencies on Tuesday. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish
ETF (NYSE:
UUP
) had climbed 0.14 percent late in the session.
The closely watched EUR/USD pair fell around 0.30 percent at
last check and was trading at $1.3083. The dollar reversed recent
gains against the Yen with the USD/JPY falling 0.42 percent. The
other notable mover was the British Pound versus the greenback with
the GBP/USD falling 0.37 percent to $1.6058.
Commodities
At last check, crude oil futures were trading slightly higher
with NYMEX crude contracts up 0.06 percent to $93.24. Brent
contracts, the benchmark for European crude, had risen 0.62 percent
to $112.09. Natural gas lost more than 1 percent on Tuesday and was
last trading at $3.23.
Both gold and silver bucked the stock market trend and rose on
the day. At last check, COMEX gold futures were up 0.77 percent to
$1,658.90 and silver futures had gained roughly 1 percent to
$30.39.
Volatility was subdued in the agricultural commodity space with
no movers of more than 1 percent. Corn was slightly higher while
wheat was slightly lower. Most soft commodities fell on the
session, led by cocoa which lost more than 2 percent.
Bonds
Treasury prices were strongly higher on the day as investors
preferred the relative safety of U.S. bonds. The iShares Barclays
20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE:
TLT
) rose 0.67 percent to $119.23.
Yields fell across the curve. The 2-Year Treasury yield fell one
basis point to 0.25 percent. The 5-Year yield lost 3 basis points
to 0.78 percent. The 10-Year Note and 30-Year Bond yield declined 3
and 4 basis points to 1.86 percent and 3.06 percent,
respectively.
Volatility and Volume
The VIX stopped its slide on Tuesday, eking out a very small
gain. At the close, the VIX had risen 0.29 percent to 13.83 after
recording record losses last week in the wake of the deal to avert
the fiscal cliff.
Volume was light on the day. Only around 92 million SPDR S&P
500 ETF (NYSE:
SPY
) shares traded hands compared to a 3-month daily average of 140.8
million.
Stock Movers
Sears Holding (NASDAQ:
SHLD
) fell more than 6 percent on the session after the company
announced that Sears investor and hedge fund manager Edward Lampert
would take over as CEO.
Monsanto (
MON
) rose a little less than 3 percent after releasing its fiscal
first-quarter earnings results and lifting its full-year view.
GameStop (NYSE:
GME
) fell more than 6 percent on Tuesday after the company cut its
sales guidance.
Yum! Brands (NYSE:
YUM
) lost around 4 percent after the company cut its fourth-quarter
sales guidance and full-year earnings outlook.
Fusion-IO (NYSE:
FIO
) plunged almost 10 percent on the session after the stock was
downgraded by analysts at William Blair.
Genworth Financial (NYSE:
GNW
) lost more than 3 percent on the day after shares were downgraded
at Credit Suisse.
(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice.
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