U.S. stocks ended higher, Monday, fighting back from a late-afternoon slump, fueled by ongoing concerns the Federal Reserve may signal it will scale back monetary stimulus at the conclusion of its next policy meeting this week. Equities got an early boost from positive data on manufacturing activity in New York State but started to fade following a newspaper report the central bank is ready to taper its stimulus efforts.
Stocks retreated from early highs through much of the afternoon, only to turn sharply higher just before the closing bell. The initial retreat from the best levels of the day came after the Financial Times reported that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is likely to signal the central bank is close to tapering its $85 billion in asset purchases when he gives a press conference June 19 following a two-day policy meeting.
Data Dump
Two reports helped get Monday's session off to a roaring start. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market index surged to 52 in June from 44 in May, handily topping forecasts for 45 reading. It was the biggest one-month gain since 2002 and the first time the index has risen above 50 since April 2006.
Separately, the New York Fed's Empire State general business conditions index rose to 7.84 from minus 1.43 in May, topping expectations for zero. A reading above zero indicates expansion.
Commodities were mostly lower. Crude oil for July delivery settled 8 cents lower at $97.77 per barrel while July natural gas added 14 cents to finish at $3.83 per 1 mln BTU. August gold fell $4.50 to $$1,382.80 per ounce while July silver slipped 20 cents to settle at $21.76 per ounce. July copper were little changed at $3.20 per pound.
Here's Where The U.S. Markets Stood At Day's End
- Dow Jones Industrial Average up 109.67 (+0.73%) to 15,179.85
- S&P 500 up 12.32 (+0.76%) to 1,639.05
- Nasdaq Composite Index up 28.58 (+0.83%) to 3,452.13
- Hang Seng Index up 1.22%
- Shanghai China Composite Index down 0.27%
- FTSE 100 Index up 0.41%
- (+) UNIS, Said "multiple deals" are either complete or in the final stages of negotiations with pharmaceutical customers for its Unifill injectable drug delivery system, according to a shareholder letter posted Monday as part of regulatory filings in the U.S. and Australia.
- (+) LLEN, Together with Equal Energy (EQU) and PowerSecure International (POWR), selected to join the Russell Global and 3000 Stock Indexes, according to a preliminary list posted late Friday.
- (+) DWA, Inks multi-year deal to produce 300 hours of original programming for Netflix (NFLX). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. NFLX shares also are higher in late trade.
- (-) TWC, Lowered to Market Perform from Outperform by Raymond Jame, citing valuation following the stock's rapid rise on merger speculation. Liberty Media Corp (LMCA) CEO Greg Maffei met with TWC Chief Executive Glenn Britt several weeks ago to discuss industry consolidation, a person familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal.
- (-) FOLD, Said it will delay filing new drug application until late 2014 for its Amigal drug candidate after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration turns down the company's request to amend the statistical plan for a failed phase III study of the experimental medication for Fabry disease.
- (-) LTON, Reports Q1 non-GAAP earnings of $0.01 per ADS, reversing a $0.09 per ADS loss during the same quarter last year. Revenue edges 0.8% higher to $11.5 mln. No analyst estimates were available for comparison.
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