Day Traders Diary
7/6/15
Monday was a busy day for equities across the globe, beginning with an overnight slide in the futures market after the Greek referendum produced 61.3% 'no' votes, rejecting the bailout terms previously proposed by eurozone creditors. The results of the referendum allowed Greece's Syriza party to stay in power, but Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis stepped down with Oxford-educated Euclid Tsakalotos assuming Mr. Varoufakis' place.
With the referendum in the rear-view mirror, the focus now shifts to July 20, when Greece will have to make a EUR3.50 billion payment to the European Central Bank. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank adjusted haircuts on Greek collateral for Emergency Liquidity Assistance, but the details were not revealed in the press release. The continued uncertainty about Greece's future in the eurozone pressured European markets with Germany's DAX and Italy's MIB losing 1.5% and 4.0%, respectively.
Domestically, the S&P 500 (-0.4%) began the session just above its 200-day moving average (2,055), but an aggressive bid lifted the index back to its flat line about an hour after the opening bell. However, that rebound was short-lived, fading into the afternoon.
Nine of ten sectors ended the day in negative territory with the energy sector (-1.3%) spending the day behind other cyclical groups. The growth-sensitive group finished among the laggards while crude oil plunged into the pit close, settling lower by 7.8% at $52.48/bbl.
Elsewhere among cyclical sectors, financials (-0.4%) and technology (-0.4%) spent the day in negative territory, which kept the market under pressure. High-beta chipmakers contributed to the losses in technology with the PHLX Semiconductor Index falling 1.6% as 28 of its 30 components registered losses while Altera (ALTR 51.40, +0.06) eked out a slight gain while Qualcomm (QCOM 63.11, 0.00) ended flat.
Things looked a bit better on the countercyclical side with consumer staples (-0.1%) and utilities (+0.4%) ending ahead of the broader market while the telecom services sector (-1.1%) struggled. For its part, health care (unch) finished ahead of the broader market after biotechnology displayed some intraday strength. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 372.36, +2.01) advanced 0.5% after being up 1.5%.
Today's session was relatively quiet on the corporate front, but Humana (HUM 188.96, +1.46) rose 0.8% after agreeing to be acquired by Aetna (AET 117.43, -8.08) as part of a transaction valued at $230/share.
Treasuries held gains throughout the day, settling not far below their overnight highs with the 10-yr yield down nine basis points at 2.29%.
Monday's trading volume surpassed recent averages with more than 910 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Although today's main focus was on Greece, it is also worth noting that China's Shanghai Composite gained 2.4%, but that was after the index opened with an 8.0% advance in reaction to news that the People's Bank of China extended a lifeline to equity brokers through China Finance Securities in an attempt to stem the recent slide.
Economic data was limited to the June ISM Services Index, which increased to 56.0 in June from 55.7 in May while the Briefing.com consensus expected the index an increase to 56.3. Business activities accelerated as the related index increased to 61.5 in June from 59.5 in May.
Tomorrow, May Trade Balance (Briefing.com consensus -$42.00 billion) will be released at 8:30 ET while the May Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey will cross the wires at 10:00 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 15:00 ET release of the Consumer Credit report for May (consensus $17.60 billion).
With the referendum in the rear-view mirror, the focus now shifts to July 20, when Greece will have to make a EUR3.50 billion payment to the European Central Bank. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank adjusted haircuts on Greek collateral for Emergency Liquidity Assistance, but the details were not revealed in the press release. The continued uncertainty about Greece's future in the eurozone pressured European markets with Germany's DAX and Italy's MIB losing 1.5% and 4.0%, respectively.
Domestically, the S&P 500 (-0.4%) began the session just above its 200-day moving average (2,055), but an aggressive bid lifted the index back to its flat line about an hour after the opening bell. However, that rebound was short-lived, fading into the afternoon.
Nine of ten sectors ended the day in negative territory with the energy sector (-1.3%) spending the day behind other cyclical groups. The growth-sensitive group finished among the laggards while crude oil plunged into the pit close, settling lower by 7.8% at $52.48/bbl.
Elsewhere among cyclical sectors, financials (-0.4%) and technology (-0.4%) spent the day in negative territory, which kept the market under pressure. High-beta chipmakers contributed to the losses in technology with the PHLX Semiconductor Index falling 1.6% as 28 of its 30 components registered losses while Altera (ALTR 51.40, +0.06) eked out a slight gain while Qualcomm (QCOM 63.11, 0.00) ended flat.
Things looked a bit better on the countercyclical side with consumer staples (-0.1%) and utilities (+0.4%) ending ahead of the broader market while the telecom services sector (-1.1%) struggled. For its part, health care (unch) finished ahead of the broader market after biotechnology displayed some intraday strength. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 372.36, +2.01) advanced 0.5% after being up 1.5%.
Today's session was relatively quiet on the corporate front, but Humana (HUM 188.96, +1.46) rose 0.8% after agreeing to be acquired by Aetna (AET 117.43, -8.08) as part of a transaction valued at $230/share.
Treasuries held gains throughout the day, settling not far below their overnight highs with the 10-yr yield down nine basis points at 2.29%.
Monday's trading volume surpassed recent averages with more than 910 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Although today's main focus was on Greece, it is also worth noting that China's Shanghai Composite gained 2.4%, but that was after the index opened with an 8.0% advance in reaction to news that the People's Bank of China extended a lifeline to equity brokers through China Finance Securities in an attempt to stem the recent slide.
Economic data was limited to the June ISM Services Index, which increased to 56.0 in June from 55.7 in May while the Briefing.com consensus expected the index an increase to 56.3. Business activities accelerated as the related index increased to 61.5 in June from 59.5 in May.
Tomorrow, May Trade Balance (Briefing.com consensus -$42.00 billion) will be released at 8:30 ET while the May Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey will cross the wires at 10:00 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 15:00 ET release of the Consumer Credit report for May (consensus $17.60 billion).
- Nasdaq Composite +5.1% YTD
- Russell 2000 +3.4% YTD
- S&P 500 +0.5% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.8% YTD
All comments contained herein are for informational purposes only, and should not be considered as a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The firm does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information or make any warranties regarding results from it's usage.