The stock market ended the Thursday session on a modestly lower note, but a late-morning rebound lifted the indices off their lows. The S&P 500 shed 0.2% with seven sectors ending in the red. 

 

This morning, European equities and U.S. futures slumped around 6:00 ET after Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko was quoted as saying Russian forces have invaded an area southeast of Donetsk. The news pressured the markets, but a brief uptick took place after a correction to reports indicated Ukraine's President did not use the word "invade," but rather said Russian troops "entered" Ukraine. The change in wording did not change the fact that Russian troops are reportedly on Ukraine's soil, which caused a flight to safety. As a result, Germany's 10-yr Bunds rallied, dropping the yield to a new record low of 0.87% before a slight rebound to 0.89%. Gold futures were also in demand with the metal climbing 0.7% to $1291.70/ozt. 

 

Similarly, U.S. Treasuries saw demand in the morning, but the 10-yr note surrendered a portion of its gain as the session wore on. The 10-yr note added five ticks to send its yield lower by two basis points to 2.34%. 

 

All ten sectors displayed losses at the start, but materials (+0.04%), telecom services (unch) and utilities (+0.7%) were able to recover before the close. The materials sector benefitted from strength among miners with Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 26.46, +0.35) gaining 1.3%. 

 

Meanwhile, the remaining sectors ended in the red, but only financials (-0.4%) and industrials (-0.3%) settled behind the broader market. Even though the financial sector underperformed, today's loss narrowed its August gain to 3.5% versus a 3.4% advance for the S&P 500. Bank of America (BAC 16.01, -0.19) was the weakest performer among the majors, sliding 1.2%. 

 

Elsewhere, the top-weighted sector--technology (-0.2%)--was pressured by influential components like Facebook (FB 73.86, -0.77), Google (GOOGL 580.32, -2.68), and Oracle (ORCL 41.27, -0.37), while the largest sector member--Apple (AAPL 102.25, +0.12)--posted a modest gain. Chipmakers also displayed strength with the PHLX Semiconductor Index climbing 0.3%. 

 

Once again, participation in today's affair was well below average with just 479 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor, which undercut Monday's total for the lowest tally of the year. The lack of activity reflected the preference to stick to the sidelines ahead of a three-day weekend that could bring new developments on the geopolitical front. 

 

Economic data included the second revision to Q2 GDP, Initial Claims, and the Pending Home Sales report: 

Second quarter GDP was revised up to 4.2% in the second estimate from 4.0% in the advance estimate, while the Briefing.com consensus expected no revisions 

Most notably, real final sales grew at a much faster rate in the second quarter (2.8%) than what was originally reported (2.3%) 

Personal consumption spending was left unrevised at 2.5% 

The initial claims level fell to 298,000 from an upwardly revised 299,000 (from 298,000), while the Briefing.com consensus pegged the claims level at 302,000 

Pending home sales for July rose 3.3%, which was better than the 0.5% increase forecast by the Briefing.com consensus 

The reading followed last month's revised decrease of 1.3% (from -1.1%) 

Tomorrow, Personal Income/Spending Data and Core PCE Prices for July will be reported at 8:30 ET, while the Chicago PMI for August (Briefing.com consensus 54.8) will cross the wires at 9:45 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 9:55 ET release of the final reading of the Michigan Sentiment Survey for August (expected 80.0). 

Nasdaq Composite +9.1% YTD 

S&P 500 +8.0% YTD 

Dow Jones Industrial Average +3.0% YTD 

Russell 2000 +0.3% YTD