Economic Events and Earnings for September 19
Published: Thu, 09/18/14
Volume Profile Level
Closing Market Recap
The stock market finished the Thursday session on a higher note with the S&P 500 climbing 0.5%. The benchmark index registered an early high within the first 90 minutes and inched to a new session best during the final hour of the action.
Equities rallied out of the gate with the financial sector (+1.1%) providing noteworthy support for the second day in a row. The growth-oriented sector extended its September gain to 1.9% versus a more modest uptick of 0.4% for the S&P 500.
Although financials did some heavy lifting, other influential sectors like health care (+0.8%) and technology (+0.7%) also served up a measure of support. The health care sector settled ahead of the broader market, but the biotech group was a reluctant participant in the advance. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF ( IBB 275.07, +2.09) added 0.8%.
For its part, technology rallied amid strength in chipmaker stocks. SanDisk (SNDK 103.22, +3.00) and Skyworks(SWKS 57.80, +1.92) led the charge with gains close to 3.0% apiece, while the broader PHLX Semiconductor Index added 1.5% amid upbeat commentary from Topeka Capital Markets.
Elsewhere among influential groups, consumer discretionary (+0.4%) and industrials (+0.4%) lagged in the early going, but finished just behind the broader market. In the discretionary sector, the relative strength of high-growth names like Netflix (NFLX 459.01, +4.48) and Priceline.com (PCLN 1197.20, +23.40) masked the under performance of home builders following today's disappointing Housing Starts/Building Permits report. The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 24.01, -0.12) lost 0.5%.
On the downside, energy (-0.5%) and utilities (-0.7%) finished in the red with the energy sector following the price of crude oil, which slid 1.3% to $93.07. As for the sector, the group narrowed its week-to-date gain to 1.0% and widened its quarterly loss to 4.3%.
Treasuries ended flat after surrendering their overnight gains. The 10-yr yield settled at 2.63%.
Participation was ahead of recent averages with more than 660 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.
Economic data included Initial Claims, Housing Starts/Building Permits, and the Philadelphia Fed Survey:
- The latest Initial Claims report revealed a drop to 280,000 from 316,000, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a more modest decline to 305,000
- The reading marked its lowest level since July and aptly supports the view that the weak payroll growth seen in August is likely to be revised higher
- Housing Starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 956,000 units in August from a revised 1.117 million units in July, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decrease to 1.045 million units
- Building permits fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 998,000 versus a revised 1.057 million for July, while the consensus expected permits to come in at 1.054 million
- The Philadelphia Fed Survey for September fell to 22.5 from 28.0, while economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the Survey would slip to 23.5
- Nasdaq Composite +10.0% YTD
- S&P 500 +8.8% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average +4.2% YTD
- Russell 2000 -0.3% YTD
Economic Event
| Time | Cur. | Imp. | Event | Actual | Forecast | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, September 19 | |||||||
| 10:00 | USD | CB Leading Index (MoM) | 0.4% | 0.9% | |||
| 10:30 | USD | ECRI Weekly Annualized (WoW) | 1.7% | ||||
| 10:30 | USD | ECRI Weekly Index | 134.20 | ||||