Closing Summary: Stocks Climb Ahead of October Jobs Report Equity indices registered modest gains on Thursday ahead of the Nonfarm Payrolls report for October (Briefing consensus 235,000), which will be released tomorrow. The S&P 500 added 0.4% with seven sectors ending in the green. The key indices spent the entire session in a slow and steady climb off their opening lows, but the same could not be said for the greenback. The Dollar Index (88.08, +0.64) spiked 0.7% after the European Central Bank released its latest policy statement. Although the central bank did not announce any changes, the euro tumbled below 1.2380 against the dollar after Mario Draghi said the bank will begin purchases of asset-backed securities soon and will not hesitate to introduce additional easing if needed. The reminder of willingness to consider additional measures boosted European equities and helped U.S. futures climb off their overnight lows. However, it should be noted that the ECB has already discussed its intentions to begin ABS purchases in the past. Furthermore Mr. Draghis comments about additional easing contrasted with Tuesdays Reuters story, which claimed nearly half of the ECB board opposes the implementation of a sovereign quantitative easing program. The resulting dollar strength weighed on crude oil (77.90, -0.78), but the energy sector (+1.3%) ended in the lead despite showing early weakness. The sector climbed to highs during the final hour of the session, rising above the industrial space (+1.1%), which led for the bulk of the day. Industrials received strong support from General Electric (GE 26.36, +0.54) as the top-weighted sector component reclaimed its 200-day moving average, spiking 2.1% to levels last seen in mid-September. Transports also fared well with the Dow Jones Transportation Average jumping 1.3%. Elsewhere among cyclical sectors, consumer discretionary (+0.9%) and materials (+0.8%) displayed strength while financials (+0.1%) and technology (-0.1%) lagged. The materials sector was boosted by miners after Randgold Resources (GOLD 64.61, +5.45) reported earnings. The company missed bottom-line estimates, but investors cheered news indicating Randgold has closed its revolving credit facility. The stock spiked 9.2% while the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 17.21, +0.62) jumped 3.7%. On the downside, technology (-0.1%) spent the day in negative territory after Qualcomm (QCOM 70.57, -6.63) reported disappointing results. Shares of QCOM plunged 8.6% while the PHLX Semiconductor Index lost 0.9%. The losses among chipmakers weighed on the Nasdaq, but the index caught up to the broader market during the final hour. Biotechnology factored into the afternoon strength with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 293.32, +4.42) climbing 1.5%. For its part, the health care sector (+0.6%) settled ahead of the remaining countercyclical groups. Treasuries ended on their lows with the 10-yr yield up four basis points at 2.38%. Participation was ahead of average with more than 730 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor. Source: Briefing
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 01:35:36 +0000
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