Reply #47: closing up shop

[ozymandius]

Dow 12,638.32 Down 7.90 (0.06%)
Nasdaq 2,522.66 Up 14.34 (0.57%)
S&P 500 1,400.38 Up 2.12 (0.15%)
10-Yr Bond 4.046% Down 0.033
NYSE Volume 3,847,263,750
Nasdaq Volume 2,214,322,500

4:20 pm : An active month ended on a tame note Friday, with the stock market sticking to a very tight trading range. The S&P 500 settled with a slight gain, as strength in tech stocks and reassuring economic data helped offset weakness in financial stocks.

In earnings news, shares of Dell (DELL 23.06, +1.25) and Marvell Technologies (MRVL 17.36, +3.28) soared 5.7% and 23% respectively. Both companies reported earnings that easily topped expectations. Tech stocks (+0.6%) outperformed on the day, helping the Nasdaq post a gain of 0.6%, compared to the S&P 500's advance of 0.2%.

Retailing stocks received added attention following earnings results from Tiffany & Co (TIF 49.03, +1.29) and J. Crew Group (JCG 37.27, -9.64). Tiffany provided an upside surprise on robust European and Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) demand. J. Crew provided an ugly full year outlook, which prompted a 21% decline in its stock.

Six of the ten economic sectors posted a gain, led by tech (+0.6%), energy (+0.7%) and materials (+0.7%). Financials (-0.7%) and consumer discretionary (-0.4%) posted the largest losses.

In economic news, April personal consumption expenditures, at 0.2% growth, were flat when adjusted for inflation. This reflects sluggish, but not declining, consumer spending. Briefing.com expects that personal consumption expenditures will increase at an annual rate of 1.5% in May and June as the fiscal stimulus kicks in. Personal income was flat when adjusted for inflation, although the results were modestly better than expected.

Chicago PMI, a regional manufacturing survey, rose 1.7% to 49.1. The results topped the expected reading of 48.5. It is the fourth straight month that the survey has reflected contraction in manufacturing activity in the Chicago region. The stock market overlooked the data.

The May University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading was revised slightly higher to 59.8 from 59.5. This marks the lowest consumer sentiment in 28 years, however, this survey has weak correlation with consumer spending so it should not be overemphasized.

Separately, the British Banker's Association (BBA) decided not to change the way Libor is calculated, despite critics' calls that Libor is not accurate. The news had a limited impact on trading. Libor -- a measure of the interest rates at which banks borrow from each other -- is used as a benchmark for what banks charge for about $350 trillion in loans, ranging from student loans to derivative contracts.

In commodity trading, crude oil rebounded 0.8% to $127.59 following its steep 3.4% decline in yesterday's trade. The CRB Index advanced 1.0%.

The month of May ended in mixed fashion. For the month, the Dow fell 1.4%, while the Nasdaq rose 4.6% and the S&P rose 1.1%. Crude oil prices surged 12.4%, with commodities as a whole rising 3.2%. DJ30 -7.90 NASDAQ +14.34 NQ100 +0.7% R2K +0.4% SP400 +0.4% SP500 +2.12 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1317/1577/2.12 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1376/1731/1.41 bln