Economic Events and Earnings for September 12
Published: Thu, 09/11/14
Closing Summary: Small Caps Jump While S&P 500 Ends Little Changed
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.1%), Nasdaq (+0.1%), and S&P 500 (+0.1%) ended the Thursday affair on a flat note, while the relative strength among small caps sent the Russell 2000 higher by 0.7%.
Equity indices began the trading day on a cautious note following last evening's remarks from President Obama who announced increased support for Syrian rebels and a U.S.-led coalition effort targeting ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq. The address led to some risk aversion overnight, but that sentiment faded during the day. Treasuries climbed overnight, but wiped out all of their gains over the course of the session. The 10-yr yield ended at 2.55% after marking a low at 2.51% shortly before the opening bell.
Meanwhile, the under performance of three influential sectors--energy (+0.1%), technology (+0.1%), and health care (-0.3%)--drove the market to lows during the first 90 minutes of action. For the second consecutive day, the energy sector opened with a loss near 1.0%, but was able to shake off the weakness with help from crude oil, which surged 1.3% to $92.89/bbl.
The energy sector staged a nice turnaround, but remains lower by 3.8% so far in September. Influential sector members were mixed with Dow components Chevron (CVX 123.83, -0.45) down 0.4% and Exxon Mobil (XOM 97.03, +0.22) up 0.2%.
Elsewhere, technology was among the early laggards, but rejoined the broader market in the afternoon. Chip makers rallied off their intraday lows with Applied Materials (AMAT 22.93, +0.56) setting the pace. The stock rose 2.5%, while the broader PHLX Semiconductor Index added 0.3%.
While two of the early laggards were able to rebound, the health care sector could only trim about half of its loss as biotechnology weighed. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 273.35,-1.06) fell 0.4%.
The remaining three countercyclical groups fared a bit better with consumer staples shedding 0.1%, while telecom services and utilities rose 0.6% and 0.9%, respectively.
Participation was below average with 591 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data was limited to weekly initial claims and the Treasury Budget for August:
Initial claims increased to 315,000 from an upwardly revised 304,000 (from 302,000), while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 300,000
Throughout July and August, the initial claims level had averaged roughly 300,000 per week, a level normally associated with an economy that is running at, or near, full employment, but this week's increase in claims brought the level back to its average from March through June
We believed that the claims data over the previous two months were biased by poor seasonal adjustments from the motor vehicle sector and we expected claims to rebound to the 310,000 -- 320,000 range once the biases left
The Treasury Budget for August showed a deficit of $128.70 billion, which followed the prior deficit of $147.90 billion, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a deficit of $129.00 billion
Tomorrow, the Retail Sales report for August (Briefing.com consensus 0.6%) and August Import/Export Prices will be released at 8:30 ET, while the preliminary reading of the Michigan Sentiment Survey (consensus 83.5) will cross the wires at 9:55 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 10:00 ET release of the Business Inventories report for July (expected 0.4%).
Also of note, the latest YouGov poll ahead of next week's Scottish independence vote will be released this evening at 17:00 ET and could lead to movements in the British pound, and by extension, the U.S. dollar.
Nasdaq Composite +9.9% YTD
S&P 500 +8.1% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +2.9% YTD
Russell 2000 +0.8% YTD
Economic Events
| Time | Cur. | Imp. | Event | Actual | Forecast | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, September 12 | |||||||
| 08:30 | USD | Core Retail Sales (MoM) | 0.3% | 0.1% | |||
| 08:30 | USD | Export Price Index (MoM) | -0.2% | 0.0% | |||
| 08:30 | USD | Import Price Index (MoM) | -0.9% | -0.2% | |||
| 08:30 | USD | Retail Sales (MoM) | 0.6% | 0.0% | |||
| 09:55 | USD | Michigan Consumer Expectations | 73.0 | 71.3 | |||
| 09:55 | USD | Michigan Consumer Sentiment | 83.3 | 82.5 | |||
| 09:55 | USD | Michigan Current Conditions | 100.0 | 99.8 | |||
| 09:55 | USD | Michigan Inflation Expectations | 3.2% | ||||
| 10:00 | USD | Business Inventories (MoM) | 0.4% | 0.4% | |||
| 10:30 | USD | ECRI Weekly Annualized (WoW) | 1.8% | ||||
Earnings Report for Friday September 12th
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