Reply #43: 11:50 - heading into the lunch hour [View All]

Dow 11,185.04 -5.76 (-0.05%)
Nasdaq 2,170.87 -3.51 (-0.16%)
S&P 500 1,273.03 +0.16 (+0.01%)
10-yr Bond 51.77 -0.23 (-0.44%)
30-yr Bond 52.27 -0.24 (-0.46%)
NYSE Volume 964,794,000
Nasdaq Volume 715,138,000

11:30 am : A pretty directionless market at the moment as the indices continue to hug the flat line. All in all, that isn't bad given the scope of yesterday's gains. The lack of movement today, we suspect, can be attributed in part to participants being in vacation mode. As a reminder, there will be a rebalancing of the Russell indexes that is effective at today's close. Accordingly, while things appear dull right now in terms of trading activity, they could be fairly volatile in the last half hour of trading as fund managers make the necessary portfolio adjustments.DJ30 -6.00 NASDAQ -0.70 SP500 +0.39 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1389/1392/643 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1142/1903/593 mln

11:00 am : The market is drifting a bit, holding fairly close to the unchanged mark but unable to make a concerted move higher due to a lack of strong sector sponsorship. One area that is doing particularly well today, though, is commodities, and specifically, the base metals. Gold prices are up $24.60, or 4.20%, to $613.50 an ounce as the yellow metal is catching a bid off the weakness in the dollar, which is a by-product of the burgeoning expectation that the Fed is going to refrain from raising rates in August and may be near the end of its tightening campaign.CRB 0.6% DJ30 -2.50 NASDAQ -4.52 SP500 +0.53 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1471/1238/537 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1348/1645/478 mln

10:35 am : The major indices have all slipped into negative territory with a relatively weak tech sector pulling down the broader market. To this point, there hasn't been any strong upside leadership as most groups are being stymied by the idea that there will be some profit taking following yesterday's huge gain and going into the weekend. Although the market is open for a half day on Monday, many participants have gone into vacation mode already and aren't actively engaged in today's market. At the top of the hour, the Chicago PMI report checked in with a reading of 56.5, which was below the consensus estimate of 59.0 and last month's reading of 61.5. A reading above 50 signals expansion, but the number that prompted a closer look was the prices paid component of the report, which was 89.0 - an 18-year high. DJ30 -13.69 NASDAQ -7.19 SP500 -0.94 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1525/1110/420 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1403/1532/364 mln