618 @ 11:55 am. Board a little slow but nowhere near as slow as before.
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618 @ 11:55 am. Board a little slow but nowhere near as slow as before.
Briefing.com
4:20 pm : A day after a worsening interest rate outlook sparked a wave of profit-taking activity, such concerns returned Wednesday, giving investors another excuse to keep reining in recent market gains.
At their lows of the day, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down 1.2% on average. Broad-based selling activity closed all 10 sectors sharply lower. Of the 147 S&P industry groups, 139 finished in negative territory.
One reason the focus was squarely on interest rates today is that the European Central Bank raised its benchmark rate 25 basis points to 4.00%. Even though the rate hike was widely anticipated, and 4.00% is still well below the 5.25% fed funds rate in the U.S., the upward trend in rates proved bothersome.
Separately, Morgan Stanley issued a "triple sell" rating on European equities for the first time since the dotcom bust due to rising rates among other things. The investment bank said it expects a 14% correction in European equities over the next six months.
That news sent Europe's three major bourses, which recently hit multi-year highs, plunging 1.8% on average and left investors in U.S. equities also questioning valuations.
As a reminder, the Dow and S&P 500 were in record territory just two days ago, yet rising interest rates have served as an effective profit taking catalyst for the overextended market.
Today's only scheduled economic report also failed to give investors any incentive to use intraday market dips as buying opportunities.
As expected, Q1 productivity was revised lower, checking in at 1.0% (consensus 1.0%) from a previous read of 1.7%. With high levels of resource utilization still a Fed focal point as having the potential to sustain
S&P 500 +2.50 1518.90 6/6 10:00pm
Fair Value 1518.34 6/6 5:04pm
Difference* +0.56
NASDAQ +3.00 1917.00 6/6 9:05pm
Fair Value 1916.77 6/6 5:04pm
Difference* +0.23
Dow Jones +16.00 13477.00 6/6 9:51pm
DJIA Contracts
08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.8. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -7.0. Early indications are again pointing to a lower open for the cash market. As expected, the Bank of England left its benchmark rate unchanged today at 5.50%; but New Zealand unexpectedly raising rates is fueling an added sense of anxiety among U.S. bond traders who continue to rule out a Fed rate cut anytime soon as global credit continues to wind tighter. The yield on the 10-year note eclipsed the psychological 5.00% level overnight, but within the last 15 minutes it has climbed as high as 5.04%, raising liquidity concerns and spiking the futures market to morning lows.
I just gave it look and for the last couple days we have had a M-class solar flare going on. Solar Data Page. Robo and I have talked in the past about a study that showed that major sell offs tend to occur following solar activity. I know it is too late to use it this time (I don't check the site that often), but it is probably something that I'll keep a better eye on.
Briefing.com
08:33 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -4.7. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -5.8. Still shaping up to be negative start for stocks as futures indications continue to trade well below fair. Meanwhile, investors are sifting through the first of today's three scheduled economic reports. Initial claims unexpectedly fell only 1,000 to 309,000 (consensus 312,000). That's the lowest level in nearly a month and still indicative of tight labor conditions, hardly the evidence bond traders want to see since high resource utilization remains such a concern for the Fed.
May same-store sales have not bounced back as much as many expected, given such a disappointing April. Wal-Mart (WMT) issuing a cautious June sales forecast is also raising concerns as to just how healthy the consumer really is.
Briefing.com
10:30 am : Recent recovery efforts are short lived as a spike in oil prices to over $67/bbl within the last 30 minutes adds to this morning's cautious tone. Crude for July delivery is now up 2.0% near $67.30/bbl, reportedly following comments out of OPEC.
Oil's uptick has helped lift the Energy sector to its best levels of the session, earmarking Refiners (+1.0%), Explorers (+0.5%), and Integrated Oil (+0.4%) among today's limited list of outperforming S&P industry groups. However, the sector's 0.6% advance barely covers half of what it lost yesterday, hardly the leadership needed to offset the commodity's potential inflationary characteristics. DJ30 -26.57 NASDAQ -9.85 SP500 -5.77 XOI +0.8% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1705/979/378 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2122/844/242 mln.
Somebody convince me the USM's aren't China's hedge cashing in.
Where's A.G. to ice this correction?
http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articl...mktNews&rpc=44
TOKYO, June 8 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average fell 1.64 percent on Friday with a broad range of shares down after U.S. and European stocks fell on a rise in bond yields and concerns over the outlook for interest rates in both regions.
Briefing.com
08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -4.0. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -2.8. Early indications suggest some of yesterday's weakness will carry over into this morning's opening bell. Another jump in interest rates and fears they will continue to move higher, is casting a pall over the stock market. The yield on the 10-year climbed as high as 5.24% earlier, just shy of the fed funds rate, making bonds increasingly more attractive than an over-extended stock market.