Stocks Remain Stuck In The Red In Mid-Day Trading After moving modestly lower in early trading on Monday, stocks have remained mostly negative over the course of the session. Profit taking is contributing to the weakness on Wall Street following the recent strength in the markets. The major averages have been rangebound in recent trading, stuck modestly below the unchanged line. The Dow is down 25.93 points or 0.2 percent at 13,567.44, the Nasdaq is down 11.04 points or 0.4 percent at 3,176.09 and the S&P 500 is down 2.07 points or 0.1 percent at 1,463.70. The weakness on Wall Street comes as traders are cashing in on recent gains following the Federal Reserve-inspired rally that was seen late last week. The gains lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to their best closing levels in well over four years, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached a nearly twelve-year closing high. Last week's rally came on the heels of the Federal Reserve's announcement of its plans to launch a third round of quantitative easing as part of an effort to boost the sluggish economy. The Fed said it would purchase additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month, adding that it will continue the purchases until the outlook for the labor market improves substantially. Disappointing manufacturing data has also helped to drag stocks lower, with a report from the New York Federal Reserve showing that conditions for New York manufacturers have deteriorated at an accelerated rate in the month of September. The New York Fed said its general business conditions index fell to a negative 10.41 in September from a negative 5.85 in August, with a negative reading indicating a contraction in regional manufacturing activity. Economists had been expecting the index to climb to a negative 2.0. James Knightley, senior economist at ING, said, "This is the weakest reading since April 2009 and will heighten fears that the U.S. manufacturing sector is returning to recession." In corporate news, shares of Lowe's are moderately higher after the home improvement retailer announced that it has withdrawn its offer to acquire Canadian rival Rona for C$14.50 per share in cash. Sector News While most of the major sectors are showing relatively modest moves, steel stocks have come under substantial selling pressure. The NYSE Arca Steel Index has fallen by 2 percent after ending the previous session at a four-month closing high. Cliffs Natural Resources has helped to lead the steel sector lower, falling by 6 percent after J.P. Morgan downgraded its rating on the stock to Neutral from Overweight. Significant weakness is also visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent loss being posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. The loss by the index comes after it reached a nearly five-year closing high last Friday. Electronic storage stocks are also under considerable pressure, dragging the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index down by 1.3 percent. Transportation, brokerage, and chemical stocks are also posting notable losses.
| Canadian Market Report |  | | CADUSD | Oil | Gold | Allbanc |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | TSX Slips After Big Rally - Canadian Commentary Canadian stocks were lingering in the red Monday morning after registering smart gains last week as the Federal Reserve embarked on a third round of quantitative easing and promised to keep interest at rock-bottom rates until mid-2015. The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 21.02 points or 0.17 percent to 12,478.45, after adding nearly 300 points or over 2 percent in the past four sessions. The Diversified Materials Index was the major lower, shedding close to 2 percent. Inmet Mining and Teck Resources were down close to 3 percent each. First Quantum Minerals was down 1 percent. The price of Crude oil extending gains Monday morning as traders await further cues from this week's economic data. Crude for October added $0.34 to $99.34 a barrel. In the oil patch, Paramount Resources was down close to 3 percent. The price of gold was hovering around its seven-month high Monday morning as the US dollar continued to trade weak on QE3 announcements. gold for December slipped $1.50 to $1,771.20 an ounce. Among gold plays, Royal gold and Agnico-Eagle Mines were down about 2 percent each. Hardware retailer RONA lost over 7 percent after Lowe's Companies Inc. formally withdrawn its $1.80 billion acquisition proposal. Real estate investment trust Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust (CUF_UN.TO) slipped 0.25 percent after announcing that it has closed the acquisition of a portfolio of 68 properties in Montréal, Québec City and Ottawa from GE Capital Real Estate's Canadian equity platform comprising a total of 4.3 million square feet. Meanwhile, bio-pharmaceutical company Cangene Corp. (CNJ.TO ) rose close to 4 percent after announcing that its wholly owned subsidiary, Cangene Plasma Resources, Inc. would sell three of its U.S. based plasma centers to Spanish company, Grifols. Full-service investment dealer Canaccord Financial Inc. (CF.TO) announce that it has appointed Peter O'Malley as Chief Executive Officer or CEO of Canaccord Genuity Asia. The stock edged up 0.40 percent. In economic news, Statistics Canada said non-resident investors acquired $6.7 billion of Canadian securities in July, following a $7.8 billion divestment in June. Meanwhile, Canadian investment in foreign securities strengthened to $4.6 billion and was equally split between debt and equity securities. |
| European Market Report | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | European Markets Finished With Modest Losses Monday
The majority of the European markets ended Monday's session with modest losses. After the strong rally last week, some profit taking was to be expected. Last week's rally was sparked by the release of some rather large news announcements, including the European Central Bank's bond purchase plan and the implementation of a third round of quantitative easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The new trading week has begun with little market moving news. There were a number of upgrade and downgrades from the brokerages and a profit warning from SSAB of Sweden. The warning from SSAB put pressure on the rest of the steel companies. Mining stocks also turned in a weak performance Monday. The European finance ministers' meeting in Cyprus on Saturday failed to find a consensus over the European Commission's proposal on the banking union. Countries, including Germany, have aired differences over the timetable for the single supervisory mechanism. Direct recapitalization of Cypriot banks through the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) should start at the beginning of next year, European Central Bank Governing Council member Panicos Demetriades reportedly said in an interview to German daily Handelsblat. "It would be very important" for Cyprus that the ESM directly recapitalize the country's banks by January 2013, Demetriades, who also heads Cyprus' central bank, told the daily. The policymaker said he expects the Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund to conclude a review on the expected aid package by October, adding that the country may need external funding for up to five years. The euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks declined by 0.47 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.23 percent. The DAX of Germany fell by 0.11 percent and the CAC 40 of France decreased by 0.78 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. dropped by 0.37 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished down by 0.10 percent. In Frankfurt, ThyssenKrupp declined by 4.73 percent. UBS downgraded its rating on the stock to "Sell" from "Neutral." Credit Suisse downgraded its rating on Deutsche Bank to "Underperform" from "Neutral." The stock finished up by 0.40 percent and Commerzbank gained 3.32 percent. Gerry Weber was downgraded to "Neutral" from "Buy" by Merrill Lynch. The stock is dropped by 3.14 percent. In Paris, Vivendi declined by 1.86 percent. UBS downgraded the stock to "Sell" from "Neutral." HSBC downgraded Societe Generale to "Neutral" from "Overweight." The stock gained 1.13 percent. Credit Agricole rose by 0.79 percent, while BNP Paribas added 0.51 percent.
9/17/2012 11:59 AM ET
Shares of ArcelorMittal fell by 2.91 percent. Steel stocks were under pressure following the profit warning from Sweden's SSAB. In London, Vodafone dropped by 1.25 percent. The telecom giant might make a provision of $2.2 billion to cover some tax risks in India, as a result of a law change in the South Asian country, Bloomberg reported, citing an interview with its Chief Financial Officer Andy Halford. BT Group finished lower by 2.06 percent. Exane BNP downgraded the stock to "Neutral" from "Outperform." Unilever increased by 1.02 percent, after UBS upgraded the stock to "Buy" from "Neutral." Mining stocks turned in a weak performance Monday. Anglo American fell by 2.28 percent and BHP Billiton lost 1.15 percent. Rio Tinto also decreased by 2.00 percent. JJB Sports sank by 23.33 percent. There were reports that nearly half of the sports goods retailer's stores may be closed and around 2000 jobs may be eliminated after its takeover deal with Sports Direct International concludes. The Eurozone current account surplus declined in July largely due to a fall in trade surplus, the European Central Bank said Monday. The surplus fell to a seasonally adjusted EUR 9.7 billion from EUR 14.3 billion in June. The euro area trade surplus increased in July despite a fall in exports, official data showed Monday. The latest decline in exports, after two straight months of increase, suggests that it will act as a drag on the activity in the third quarter. The trade surplus rose to EUR 15.6 billion from EUR 13.6 billion in June, Eurostat said. Economists had forecast a surplus of EUR 15 billion. Eurozone labor costs increased 1.6 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2012, data released by Eurostat showed Monday. The increase was in line with expectations and followed a 1.5 percent gain in the first quarter. Conditions for New York manufacturers have deteriorated at an accelerated rate in the month of September, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday, with the index of activity in the sector falling to its lowest level in over three years. The New York Fed said its general business conditions index fell to a negative 10.41 in September from a negative 5.85 in August, with a negative reading indicating a contraction in regional manufacturing activity. Economists had been expecting the index to climb to a negative 2.0. |
| Asia Market Reports | Asian Markets Mostly Trade Higher On Wall Street Lead Asian stock markets are mostly trading higher on Monday with investors tracking cues from the U.S. and European markets where stocks extended a recent rally and posted solid gains on Friday. However, with profit taking creeping in amid a lack of fresh triggers, most of the markets in the region are currently trading off their highs. The Australian market is trading modestly higher with investors indulging in some selective buying. Mining stocks are mostly trading notably higher. Financial and energy stocks are trading mixed, while consumer staples, industrial and healthcare stocks are trading weak. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which rose to around 4,406, is currently trading at 4,398.6, up 8.6 points or 0.2 percent from its previous close. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 6.6 points at 4,416.8, off the day's high of 4,424.8. In the mining sector, BHP Billiton (BHP,) is up more than 2 percent, Rio Tinto (, RIO.L) is adding 1.6 percent and Newcrest Mining is up with a gain of 1.4 percent. Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Oil Search are trading modestly higher, while Origin Energy and Caltex Australia are trading lower by 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. In the banking space, ANZ Bank (), Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac () are up 0.4 to 0.8 percent, while Bank of Queensland and Bendigo & Adelaide Bank are trading flat. Leighton Holdings shares are up 5 more than percent. The company announced that the first large-scale production of drinking water has started at its troubled Victorian desalination plant. The desalination plant and the company's Brisbane Airport Link toll road were the main reasons Leighton downgraded its profit forecast by A$256 million in March. Iluka Resources is trading higher by nearly 7 percent. Boart Longyear is up by around 2.5 percent and Aurora Oil & Gas is up with a gain of 2 percent. Primary Healthcare and Brambles are down more than 3.7 percent. Whitehaven Coal, Seven West Media, CSL, Ramsay Healthcare, ResMed Inc () and Perseus Mining are down 2 to 3 percent. David Jones is down nearly 2 percent amid reports of a likely 40 percent slump in earnings for the year. AGL Energy, Sonic Healthcare, Fairfax Media, Computershare and Regis Resources are also trading notably lower. Macmahon Holdings are under a trading halt. The company said it will release a fresh update on its earnings guidance following a deterioration in the financial performance of its construction business. |
| Commodities | | | | USDCAD | USDEUR | USDGBP | USDJPY |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | Eurozone Trade Surplus Increases In July The euro area trade surplus increased in July despite a fall in exports, official data showed Monday. The latest decline in exports after two straight months of increase suggest that it will act as a drag on the activity in the third quarter. The trade surplus rose to EUR 15.6 billion from EUR 13.6 billion in June, Eurostat said. Economists had forecast a surplus of EUR 15 billion. In July 2011, the trade surplus totaled EUR 2.1 billion. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the surplus fell to EUR 7.9 billion from EUR 9.3 billion in June. Exports dropped by a seasonally adjusted 2 percent month-on-month in July after rising 2.4 percent in June. Likewise, imports fell 1.2 percent, reversing last month's 0.7 percent rise. The decline in exports reinforces belief that the Eurozone is headed for further GDP contraction in the third quarter given that growing exports was one of the few positives for the Eurozone economy in the first half of 2012, IHS Global Insight's Chief U.K. economist Howard Archer said. The 17-nation economy shrank 0.2 percent in the second quarter as a marked improvement in export growth was offset by a further fall in investment. The Organization for Economic Co-operation Development warned that the global economy has weakened with recession hitting key euro area economies such as Spain and Italy. Annually, exports rose an unadjusted 11 percent, while imports gained only 2 percent. The extra-EU27 trade in goods showed a surplus of EUR 3.1 billion, compared with a EUR 15.3 billion shortfall last month. Exports and imports fell by 1.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. The EU27 deficit for energy increased to EUR 208.6 billion during January to June compared with EUR 187.2 billion deficit in the same period of last year. Concerning the total trade of member states, the largest surplus was observed in Germany during six months ended June, followed by the Netherlands and Ireland. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom registered the largest deficit. |
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