24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — July 31, 2012: Markets Turn Down on Lost Confidence, Eurozone Waffling

July 31, 2012 by Paul Ausick

The three major US stock indexes opened mixed this morning following the unemployment report from the Eurozone, which showed that the 11.2% rate had remained unchanged. The Eurozone consumer price index was also unchanged at 2.4% (our coverage here). US data on personal income and spending were mixed (our coverage here), while the Case-Shiller house price index showed a year-over-year decline in May (our coverage here). The Conference Board’s economic confidence index improved this month (more coverage here), but Gallup’s survey on economic confidence showed a decline in confidence (our coverage here). An agreement has been struck between Congressional Democrats and Republicans that will avoid a repeat of last summer’s shutdown of some government services.

The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.18% at 82.642. The GSCI commodity index rose by about 0.4% to 644.60, with commodities prices mostly lower today. WTI crude oil fell -1.72% today, closing at $88.06/barrel, although July prices rose 3.6% (our coverage here). Brent crude trades down -1.37% at $104.74/barrel. Natural gas is up 0.16% today to $3.219/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled at $1,610.50/ounce, down -0.6% for the day, but up 0.4% for the month.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 64 points to 13,008.68 (-0.49%), the NASDAQ fell more than 6 points (-0.21%) to 2,939.52, and the S&P 500 fell -0.43% or nearly 6 points to 1,379.32.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) started as ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; The Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Broadsoft Inc. (NASDAQ: BSFT) raised to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs, and Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) started as ‘buy’ at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) is down -3.2% at $69.45; CafePress Inc. (NASDAQ: PRSS) is down -40.9% at $8.10 after posting a new 52-week low of $7.68 earlier today (more coverage here); Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is down -23% at $4.76 after posting a new 52-week low of $4.70 earlier today (more coverage here); Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) is down -2.1% at $11.26; Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) is down -1.4% at $30.01; Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is down -2.9% at $36.05; Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) is down -5.2% at $26.08; Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) is down -18.6% at $49.30(more coverage here); Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) is down -0.3% at $47.33; Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is up 1.5% at $24.06 (our coverage here); Revlon Inc. (NYSE: REV) is up 7.2% at $14.55; United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) is up 9.1% at $20.65; and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is up 5.5% at $27.51 (more coverage here).

After markets close today we are set to hear from Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL), Edison International Inc. (NYSE: EIX), FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC), Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), and WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD).

Before markets open tomorrow we are scheduled to get earnings results from Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN), Burger King Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: BKW), CNH Global NV (NYSE: CNH), Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN), Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC), and Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is down -6.5% at $21.64, after posting a new 52-week low of $21.61 earlier today. The social media giant continues to suffer from last week’s poor earnings and the end of a lock-up period for pre-IPO investors. More coverage here.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is down -14.2% at $1.15after posting a new 52-week low of $1.02 earlier today. The solar PV maker revealed some accounting issues yesterday that have plagued the company again today.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) is down 3.1% at $4.37 after posting a new 52-week high of $4.60earlier today. The telecom provider is gaining support for its strategic plan.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

  • 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association mortgage purchase applications
  • 7:30 a.m. – Challenger job-cut report
  • 8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
  • 9:00 a.m. – PMI manufacturing index
  • 10:00 a.m. – ISM manufacturing index
  • 10:00 a.m. – Construction spending
  • 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
  • 2:15 p.m. – FOMC announcement

Paul Ausick

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