Global equities, bond prices, and commodities began the week under pressure as investors fled markets amid ongoing speculation over Fed tapering, and tighter financial conditions in China which sent stocks in Shanghai down more than 5%. U.S. stocks did recover well off their lows to finish mid-range after comments from Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher helped settle bearish sentiment. Financials and Materials led shares lower, while Utilities and Staples outperformed. Crude Oil rallied while Gold traded lower.
Market Indices/Statistics:
- Dow closed down 139.84 pts/-0.94% to 14659.56; 26 of the 30 Dow stocks closed lower.
- S&P closed down 19.34 pts/-1.21% to 1,573.09; all of the 10 S&P 500 sectors closed lower.
- Nasdaq closed down 36.49 pts/-1.09% to 3,320.76
- Financials were the weakest sector (-1.80 %), Utilities were the strongest (-0.02%).
- The VIX finished up 1.21 to 20.11
- Gold is down 9.7 to $1,282.30
- Oil is up $1.27 to $94.96
- Nat Gas is down 0.022 to $3.767
- Euro vs. Dollar is up 0.0001 to $1.3122
- Yen vs. Dollar is down 0,22 to $97.64
Top Headlines:
Pfizer Inc. (PFE,$27.71) said it would complete the spinoff of its Zoetis Inc.’s (ZTS,$30.38) animal health business after investors offered to trade their Pfizer shares for the company's remaining majority stake in the unit. The drugmaker said it would distribute all its Zoetis Class A common stock, representing more than 80% of the animal health business, to investors who tendered Pfizer stock.
U.S. hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp (THC,$43.73) announced today it will buy smaller rival Vanguard Health Systems Inc (VHS,$20.70) for about $1.73B, putting Tenet in a better position to benefit from the millions of Americans expected to get insurance under President Obama's healthcare reform. Both stocks rose on the news with THC gaining 4.49%, and VHS a whopping 67.34%.
British mobile telecom giantVodafone Group plc (VOD,$27.32) has agreed to buy Germany's largest cable operator Kabel Deutschland for 7.7 billion euros ($10B USD), adding TV and fixed-line services to help defend against mounting competition in its most important market. The deal is Vodafone's largest in six years and its second major buy of a European fixed-line network in 12 months.
Earnings After the Bell:
Mitel Networks (MITL) ) reports Q1 EPS of 0.25c, vs. Est. 0.24c
Sonic (SONC) ) reports Q1 EPS of 0.26c, vs. Est. 0.26c
Coming Tuesday
U.S. Economic Reports:
ICSC-Goldman Chain Store Sales (Weekly) at 7:45am, prior (2.7%)%
Durable Goods Orders (May) at 8:30am, consensus +3.5%, prior +3.5%
Durable Goods Orders ex transports (May) at 8:30am, consensus (0.4%), prior +1.5%
Redbook Chain Store Sales (Weekly) at 8:55am, prior (0.5)%
FHFA House Price Index (April) at 9am, consensus +1.2%, prior +1.3%
Case-Shiller Home Price Index (April) at 9am, consensus +10.6%, prior +10.2%
Earnings Tuesday:
Barnes & Noble (BKS) Est. (0.96); Carnival Corp (CCL) Est. 0.06c; Lennar (LEN) Est. 0.33c ; Walgreen (WAG) Est. 0.91c ; Synnex (SNX) Est. 0.81c ;
Here at the NYSE
Tuesday, June 25, 2013 – The Opening Bell®
Laura Osnes, star of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway, will ring The Opening Bell® at the NYSE with Theatre Development Fund's Chairman, Earl D. Weiner, Executive Director Victoria Bailey and Managing Director Michael Naumann on the 40th anniversary of the day the TKTS (pronounced T-K-T-S) booth first opened in Times Square, New York.
Since opening on June 25, 1973 TKTS has sold 58.5 million tickets and returned over $1.9. billion in revenue to thousands of productions.
Please remember to check in with us every morning for the NYSE Morning Update! http://exchanges.nyx.com/parasnand-madho/nyse-morning-update-05022013
Thanks and have a great evening!
