Stocks Stretched Between Bond Yield Gains And Mild Oil Price Action
Watch today’s Markets Desk video.
Oil prices softened somewhat, bond yields forged higher and stocks rose, then slipped again in afternoon trading.
The NYSE composite was up 0.3%, the Nasdaq up 0.5% at 2:57 p.m. ET. Nasdaq’s Computers Index continued to lead the gains, rising 1.1%. The S&P 500 was up 0.4%, the Dow was up 0.2%. Volume turned mixed, falling slightly on the NYSE, up 8% on the Nasdaq.
Crude oil prices calmed to 68.96 a barrel, up 10 cents, after spiking as high as 69.88 in earlier trading. Ten-year bond yields rose to 5.17%.
Losers led winners by a narrow margin on the Nasdaq and were roughly equal on the NYSE. The selling bypassed most leadings stocks.
Norsk Hydro () added 1.03 to 37.94. The diversified Norwegian energy operator’s shares were edging into new high territory on higher volume. The stock was just above a 37.24 buy point on a pullback to the 10-week moving average.
Potash Saskatchewan () reversed upward, adding 1.51 to 78.61. That lifted the fertilizer maker’s shares to 39% above a 56.45 buy point after a flat-base breakout in April. Shares were just below Tuesday’s high.
Insurance broker Life Partners Holdings () gained 1.11 to 34.22. The stock has advanced in 10 of the last 14 sessions. It is extended almost 80% from a 19.22 buy point on a pullback near the 10-week line.
Dollar Financial () gapped down and tumbled 1.61 to 29.49 after announcing an offering of up to $150 million in senior convertible notes. The move dumped the stock below its 10-week moving average line, and left it 11% below its May high.
1 p.m. ET Update: Stocks Bounce, Then Slip On Manufacturing Data
By ALAN R. ELLIOTT
Indexes headed higher, then flatened just after the release of the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing data.
The NYSE had slipped less than 0.1% at 12:55 p.m. ET. The Nasdaq gained 0.1%, led by positive performance in its computers index. The S&P 500 was up less than 0.1% and the Dow rose 0.2%.
Both the NYSE and Nasdaq volumes were higher.
Mid-Atlantic manufacturing and orders rose above expectations in June, buoying stocks in early afternoon trade. The Philly Fed’s regional manufacturing index clocked a reading of 18.0 13.8 points higher than May and more than twice the consensus of 8.0.
More stocks fell than gained, but few leaders took significant hits. Fertilizer makers extended their recent run.
CF Industries Holdings () added 3.08 to 59.69. That put shares 27% above a 46.82 buy point on a recent pullback to the 10-week moving average.
Terra Nitrogen () gained 2.67 to 116.25. The stock is now extended 112% from its most recent buy point, 54.85, on a February pullback to the 10-week line.
Graphics chip maker Nvidia () jumped 2.57 to 42.43 after an upgrade to overweight by Lehman Brothers. The move pushed the stock to new highs on solid volume, acing a June 5 breakout above a 24-week cup-with-handle base. Shares were 18% above the base’s 36.10 buy point.
Diamond Offshore () added 2.54 to 102.62 after Credit Suisse First Boston increased the stock’s price target. The move held shares in new high territory, just above a 98 buy point on a 13-month base.
HMS Holdings () crumbled 1.08 to 18.79. The 6% loss deepened the stock’s six-week stay below its 10-week moving average.
11 a.m. ET update: Stocks Recover From Early Dip As Bond Yields, Oil Ease
By ALAN R. ELLIOTT
Oil prices and bond yields eased in late morning trading, freeing stocks to seek higher ground.
The NYSE and Nasdaq composites were both of 0.3% at 11:03 a.m. ET. The S&P 500 was up 0.4%, while the Dow added 0.1%.
The Shanghai composite rose 1.2%. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.2%. European stocks fell, with the FTSE 100 in London shedding 1.5%.
Bond selling continued in early trade, pushing bond yields higher and keeping pressure on stocks. The 10-year yield nipped 5.16% from its 5.15% close Wednesday. Selling softened in late morning, dropping yields to 5.14%.
Crude oil prices also turned, after adding 80 cents to $69.66 a barrel in early trading as tension in Nigeria continued. Prices softened to a 61-cent gain by 10:49 a.m. ET. July futures contracts dropped almost $1 a barrel Wednesday, dipping briefly below 68.
Initial jobless claims edged slightly higher, adding 10,000 to 324,000, just above estimates, for the week ended June 16. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Manufacturing Index is due out at 12 p.m. ET.
Gainers ran just ahead of decliners on the NYSE; neck-and-neck on the Nasdaq. A handful of Chinese stocks led in early action.
China Petroleum & Chemical () gapped up, adding 4.05 to 116.80 after announcing Wednesday it planned a $6 billion initial offering on the Shanghai exchange. China’s largest crude oil refiner, also known as Sinopec, its stock broke out of an 18-week cup-with-handle base in May.
China life Insurance () jumped 2.15 to 53.95 after Deutsche Bank eased its rating to hold from sell. The stock is just above a 51.04 buy point on a slightly low handle on a 23-week cup-with-handle base. It is 7% below its Jan. 3 high.
China Mobile () gained 0.94 to 52.55 after reporting Tuesday its number of users rose from 5.3 million to 5.5 million in May. The wireless services provider’s stock broke out of an irregular, 16-week cup-shaped base Wednesday. Shares are now just above that base’s 51.88 buy point.
On the downside, Buffalo Wild Wings () reversed sharply, gapping down and losing 2.63 to 44.01. The 6% drop left shares above the 10-week moving average line, but below the 44.97 buy point from a pullback to the line. The stock was 8% below Wednesday’s high.