Day Traders Diary

6/15/15

The major averages hover in the red at midday with the S&P 500 (-0.4%) trading behind the Dow (-0.6%) and Nasdaq Composite (-0.5%).

Equity indices stumbled out of the gate after Sunday's talks between Greek officials and the country's creditors broke down after just 45 minutes, leaving the situation essentially unchanged since last Friday. The two sides remain at odds with cuts to state pensions/wages and VAT levels on electricity among the main points of contention. Given the lack of progress, the focus now shifts to this week's Eurogroup meeting, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday.

The cautious posture has given a boost to the bond market, sending the benchmark 10-yr yield lower by four basis points to 2.36%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has slid below its 100-day moving average (2,089) at the start with all ten sectors driving the decline.

Notably, the top-weighted technology sector (-0.8%) is the weakest performer of the day with large cap components responsible for the weakness while high-beta chipmakers have shown relative strength. The PHLX Semiconductor Index has narrowed its loss to 0.3% even though Micron (MU 24.09, -1.04) trades lower by 4.1% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to 'Underweight' from 'Equal-Weight.'

Similar to technology, industrials (-0.7%) and materials (-0.5%) trail the broader market while the remaining cyclical groups hold slimmer losses. For instance, the energy sector (-0.1%) has made a brief appearance in the green, but is back in negative territory as crude oil trades lower by 0.8% at $59.46/bbl after being down near 2.0% overnight.

Over on the countercyclical side, consumer staples (-0.5%) and telecom services (-0.5%) trade near the broader market while utilities (-0.1%) and health care (-0.1%) outperform.

Economic data included Empire Manufacturing, Industrial Production/Capacity Utilization, and NAHB Housing Market Index:

The Empire Manufacturing Survey for June registered a reading of -2.0, which was below the prior month's reading of 3.1 and below the Briefing.com consensus estimate, which was pegged at 6.0

Industrial production decreased 0.2% in May after declining a downwardly revised 0.5% (from -0.3%) in April while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.3%

Manufacturing production declined 0.2% in May after increasing 0.1% in April, which was the first decline since a 0.2% drop in February

Capacity utilization hit 78.1% while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 78.3%

The NAHB Housing Market Index for June rose to 59 from 54 while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 56