Day Traders Diary

7/23/13

The major averages ended in mixed fashion as the Dow Jones added 0.1% and the S&P 500 shed 0.2%.

The Dow outperformed the broader market as the relative strength of United Technologies (UTX 105.16, +3.05) provided the price-weighted index with enough support to keep it in positive territory throughout the session. In addition, DuPont (DD 57.12, -0.05) displayed early strength, but ended in the red. Both companies reported bottom-line beats on below-consensus revenue and DuPont announced it will seek strategic alternatives for its Performance Chemical segment.

Although DuPont settled on its lows, the materials sector finished in the lead. The space received support from miners after Freeport-McMoRan (FCX 29.99, +0.84) reported an earnings beat. On a related note, copper futures added 0.9% to $3.213 per pound while gold futures climbed 0.5% to $1342.20 per troy ounce.

The materials sector was closely followed by yesterday's biggest laggard, energy. The growth-oriented space added 0.2% as crude oil rose 0.2% to $107.14 per barrel.

Elsewhere, utilities and telecom services settled with respective gains of 0.3% and 0.4% while the remaining sectors ended in the red.

Financials and technology spent most of the day in negative territory. In the financial sector, major banks displayed little change and insurer Travelers (TRV 82.21, -3.22) fell 3.8% despite beating on earnings.

Tech shares displayed broad weakness, with the largest sector component, Apple (AAPL 418.99, -7.32), sliding 1.7% ahead of its after-hours earnings report. Meanwhile, chipmakers underperformed even after Texas Instruments (TXN 38.93, +1.51) reported a slight earnings beat on an 8.6% year-over-year decline in revenue.

The underperformance of tech names weighed on the Nasdaq, which settled lower by 0.6%. In addition, the index was also pressured by Netflix (NFLX 250.26, -11.70) after the discretionary component reported in-line results, which did not justify the stock's July gain of 24.1%.

Also of note, biotechnology weighed on the Nasdaq and the health care sector. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB 192.35, -3.34) settled lower by 1.7%.

Similar to stocks, Treasuries were confined to a narrow range. The benchmark 10-yr yield ended higher by two basis points at 2.51%.

Today's economic data was limited to the May FHFA Housing Price Index, which increased 0.7% to follow a 0.5% uptick observed during the prior month.

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET and June new home sales will be announced at 10:00 ET. On the earnings front, AmerisourceBergen (ABC 57.63, -1.36), Boeing (BA 107.79, +0.93), and Ford Motor (F 16.94, -0.10) will report their results before the opening bell.

The U.S. Treasury will auction $35 billion in 5-yr notes.

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