Portfolio

US mid-afternoon: Wall Street down after very weak retail sales data

Date: Wednesday 13 Jun 2012

US mid-afternoon: Wall Street down after very weak retail sales data

-Iran foreign minister described as optimistic on nuclear talks
-Core retail sales data weaker than expected
-Downwards revisions to March and April retail sales numbers
-Dell and JP Morgan buttress market

Dow Jones Industrials:-0.58%
Nasdaq Comp.: -0.61%
S&P 500: -0.58%

The main US equity benchmarks have finally opted to move lower as investors react to the very weak retail sales numbers out earlier and nervousness in the Eurozone. That despite yesterday’s gains on the back of speculation of further monetary easing by the Federal Reserve.

PC manufacturer Dell is in the spotlight after announcing that it will begin to pay-out a dividend.

JP Morgan is climbing almost 2% after its embattled chief executive, Jamie Dimon, responded before the Senate Banking Committee for the $2bn in derivate losses incurred by his traders.

Shares of Mc.Donald’s are holding up despite a downgrade from Goldman Sachs. Johnson&Johnson’s acquisition of Synthes has received regulatory approval; while JP Morgan has upgraded its recommendation on shares of the company to buy from neutral.

Philip Morris has announced a plan to buy-back approximately $18bn of its own shares over the next three years.

From a sector stand-point the best performing industrial groups now are: Airlines (2.72%), tobacco electronic office equipment (0.81%) and banks (0.75%).

Retail data prints far weaker than expected



Retail sales (ex-automobiles) contracted at an 0.4% month-on-month rate in May (Consensus: 0.0%).
Commenting on the data analysts at Barclays are commenting that, “in particular, core retail sales (which excludes gasoline, autos and building materials) were flat on the month, well below our 0.4% forecast. In addition, this was accompanied by downward revisions to April (to 0.1% from 0.4%) and March (to 0.3% from 0.5%). Hence, the picture of consumer spending at the start of Q2 looks decidedly less bright than previously.”
Business inventories rose by 0.4% month-on-on-month in April (Consensus: 0.3%).

Producer prices came down at a 1.0% month-on-month clip in May (Consensus: -0.6%). Core producer prices increased at a 2.7% year-on-year rate (Consensus: 2.8%).

Bonds head higher



Front month West Texas crude futures are now falling by 0.10% to the 83.05 dollar level in NYMEX trading.

10 year US treasuries are up by 18/32 dollars, with yields at 1.60%.



S&P 500 - Risers
MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) $1.89 +3.85%
Dell Inc. (DELL) $12.35 +3.17%
Supervalu Inc. (SVU) $4.28 +2.39%
Hershey Foods Corp. (HSY) $69.00 +2.12%
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $41.13 +2.06%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $34.43 +1.95%
Alpha Natural Res (ANR) $8.43 +1.93%
SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) $22.09 +1.89%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $9.16 +1.89%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $64.11 +1.63%

S&P 500 - Fallers
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $13.89 -7.10%
Macy's Inc. (M) $34.97 -5.28%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $26.39 -4.90%
Progressive Corp. (PGR) $20.76 -4.33%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $103.26 -4.03%
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) $89.20 -3.84%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $43.91 -3.62%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $32.38 -3.60%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $24.67 -3.56%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $50.37 -3.38%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $34.43 +1.95%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $64.11 +1.63%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $88.00 +0.56%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $8.54 +0.23%
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $38.47 +0.21%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $26.57 +0.19%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $22.23 +0.18%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.01 +0.16%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $46.45 +0.15%
AT&T Inc. (T) $34.99 +0.03%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
American Express Co. (AXP) $55.29 -2.11%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $85.24 -2.08%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $51.28 -1.84%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $49.21 -1.36%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $21.47 -1.06%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $73.68 -0.90%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $38.51 -0.88%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $67.18 -0.80%
Boeing Co. (BA) $72.04 -0.74%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $80.73 -0.65%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Dell Inc. (DELL) $12.35 +3.17%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $23.88 +2.98%
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $41.13 +2.06%
Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $10.76 +1.41%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $63.92 +1.35%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $56.92 +1.14%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $16.87 +0.84%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $69.10 +0.69%
BMC Software Inc. (BMC) $43.53 +0.65%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $39.49 +0.43%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $13.89 -7.10%
Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) $22.09 -5.52%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $26.39 -4.90%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $12.38 -3.21%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $51.93 -3.19%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $47.21 -3.12%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $51.54 -2.82%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $49.40 -2.49%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $12.25 -2.08%
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL) $11.80 -2.07%

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