Stocks finished lower Wednesday, snapping a six-day winning streak for the S&P 500 after new economic data this morning found new-home sales falling to an eight-month low while factory production fell short of market expectations. The disappointing data upstaged strong earnings Wednesday by several sector bellwethers, including Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) and Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW).
Data Disappointment
New-home sales slid a surprising 14.5% during March from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, the Commerce Department said, lagging the market consensus looking for a 3.4% increase last month. It was the second drop in a row although February sales got a small revision to a 449,000 annualized pace, up from 440,000 first reported last month.
The Markit flash purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector in April also disappointed, coming in little changed from March levels with a 55.4 reading, down 0.1% and trailing market forecasts expecting a 56.0 reading.
The underlying data were more positive, however, including an 0.8 rise in new orders to a 58.9 reading while new export orders also climbed 0.8 over March levels to a 51.9 score. Output also rose, advancing 0.7 to a 58.2 reading -- its fastest pace in more than three years. Readings above 50 in the PMI index indicate growth.
Commodities were mixed, with Crude Oil for May delivery settling 31 cents lower at $101.44 per barrel while May Natural Gas was down 1 cent to finish at $4.73 per 1 million BTU. June Gold rose $3.70 to $1,284.80 per ounce while May Silver added 8 cents to finish at $19.44 per ounce. May Copper rose a penny to settle at $3.06 per pound.
Here's Where The Markets Stood At Day's End
- Dow Jones Industrial Average down 12.72 (-0.08%) to 16,501.65
- S&P 500 down 4.16 (-0.22%) to 1,875.39
- Nasdaq Composite Index down 34.49 (-0.83%) to 4,126.97
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
- Hang Seng Index down 0.97%
- Shanghai China Composite Index down 0.26%
- FTSE 100 Index down 0.11%
UPSIDE MOVERS
- (+) XOOM, Reports Q1 net earnings of $0.06 per share, beating Capital IQ consensus by $0.10. Revenue climbs 47.7% year over year to $35.9 mln, topping estimates by $1.62 mln. Guides FY14 EPS, revenue above consensus.
- (+) ATRM, Transfers test handler business to Boston Semi Automation LLC in exchange for a future revenue royalty stream starting at 15% and declining over time to 3% over the next five years.
- (+) SODA, Shares spike after an Israeli daily newpaper reports the home soft-drink dispenser company is in advanced talks with Starbucks (SBUX), which would acquire a 10% equity stake valued at $1.1 bln.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
- (-) ISRG, Q1 EPS falls 75% from year ago to $1.13 per share. Excludes $1.54 per share in deferred revenue and legal costs, but still would trail consensus view by $0.62 per share. Revenue falls 24% to $464.7 mln, missing Street view by $49 mln.
- (-) CREE, Tops analyst projections by $0.01 with fiscal Q3 earnings of $0.39 per share. Revenue grew 16.1% over year-ago levels to $405.2 mln, roughly in-line with estimates looking for $407.45 mln. Guides Q4 EPS, revenue in-line with Street.
- (-) JAKK, Q1 loss of $0.74 per share was $0.02 better than the Capital IQ consensus. Revenues rose 5.6% year over year to $82.5 mln, beating estimates looking for $75.57 mln.
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