Stocks News Us: Wall St inches higher with Apple; jobs data weak

Valecha Engineering

05/09/2014 18:04

Sept 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are edging higher on Friday, 
with Apple  AAPL.O  outperforming while weaker-than-expected 
jobs data is providing  some relief to investor worries about 
the timing of future rate hikes. 
     Apple shares are up 0.7 percent. The company is planning 
additional steps to keep hackers out of user accounts, CEO Tim 
Cook told the Wall Street Journal.  ID:nL3N0R61K7  Biotech 
shares are among the weakest of the day, along with retailers. 
Gap  GPS.N  shares are down 4.7 percent, with the stock the 
biggest percentage decliner in the S&P 500 a day after reporting 
disappointing same-store sales for August. 
     Biotechs are among the day's most actively traded stocks, 
with shares of Gilead Sciences  GILD.O  down 3.9 percent and the 
Nasdaq Biotech Index  .NBI  off 1.3 percent. 
    The jobs report is giving some relief to worries the Federal 
Reserve might speed up plans to hike interests at its next 
meeting. "If it was a blowout to the upside, people might have 
moved up their forecast on when the Fed starts to raise rates," 
says Sean Lynch, managing director of global equity and research 
strategy, Wells Fargo Private Bank in Omaha, Nebraska. 
    The Dow Jones industrial average  .DJI  is rising 40.62 
points, or 0.24 percent, to 17,110.2, the S&P 500  .SPX  is up 
4.49 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,002.14 and the Nasdaq 
Composite  .IXIC  is adding 3.93 points, or 0.09 percent, to 
4,566.22. 
    At the NYSE, most active stocks include Brazil's Petrobras 
 PBR.N , up 0.57 percent, and Vale  VALE.N , down 2.3 percent. 
    On the Nasdaq, most active stocks are Apple and Gilead. 
    Advancing issues are outnumbering declining ones on the NYSE 
by 1,524 to 1,388, for a 1.10-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the 
Nasdaq, 1,390 issues are falling and 1,189 advancing for a 
1.17-to-1 ratio favoring decliners. 
    The broad S&P 500 index is posting 17 new 52-week highs and 
two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite is recording 35 new highs and 
34 new lows. 
         
From earlier in the day:     
12:40 - Shares of retailer Quiksilver  ZQK.N  are down more than 
30 percent, a day after reporting a surprise loss for the third 
quarter. 
    The stock's low for the day is at $1.89, lowest since 
December 2009, and the stock is among the most actively traded 
shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume is about 2.4 
million, more than four times its 10-day moving average volume. 
    The stock is down 77.5 percent for the year so far, and 
analysts revisions have been falling for the company, according 
to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. 
    It has an analysts revisions score of 11 out of 100, with 
analysts lowering their estimates on revenue and downgrading the 
stock in the past 90 days, the data shows. 
    Index snapshot at 12:05: 
    * S&P 500  .SPX  is up 0.98 points, 0.05 percent. 
    * Nasdaq Comp  .IXIC  is down 3.41 points, 0.07 percent. 
    * Dow industrials  .DJI  are up 10.31 points, 0.06 percent. 
    * Russell 2000  .TOY  is falling 1.36 points, 0.12 percent. 
    * S&P MidCap  .IDX  is up 1.21 points, 0.08 percent. 
    * S&P SmallCap  .SPCY  is off 0.81 points, 0.12 percent.     
     
From earlier in the session.     
11:18 - Options activity in Prana Biotechnology Ltd  PBT.AX  
 PRAN.O  on Friday spiked after the Australia-based company 
received orphan status from the U.S. FDA for its Huntington's 
disease drug, PBT2. 
    Options volume on Prana soared to nearly 25 times normal and 
consisted of 3,855 calls and 1,098 puts traded so far on Friday, 
according to data from options analytics firm Trade Alert. 
    The September $3 and $2 strike calls, which expire at the 
close on Sept. 20, are the most active, according to Trade 
Alert. 
    Prana's PBT2 drug aims to treat Huntington's disease, a type 
of brain disorder, for which there's no current cure, and the 
orphan drug status entitles the company to seven years of 
exclusivity. 
    Prana's shares were up 40 cents, or 19 percent, at $2.54 on 
Friday on Nasdaq, with nearly 12.5 million shares changing 
hands, exceeding its 50-day daily moving average of about a 
million shares traded. 
    Index snapshot at 11:17: 
    * S&P 500  .SPX  is falling 2.47 points, 0.12 percent. 
    * Nasdaq Comp  .IXIC  is down 11.13 points, 0.24 percent. 
    * Dow industrials  .DJI  are down 19.46 points, 0.1 percent. 
    * Russell 2000  .TOY  is falling 4.09 points, 0.35 percent. 
    * S&P MidCap  .IDX  is down 1.55 points, 0.11 percent. 
    * S&P SmallCap  .SPCY  is off 2.20 points, 0.33 percent. 
     
10:49 - Biotechnology stocks are among the weakest sectors of 
the day on Friday, vastly underperforming the broader market as 
investors take profits in the high-flying group following weak 
August jobs numbers. 
    The Nasdaq Biotech index  .NBI  is down 1.3 percent, 
breaking decisively under its 14-day moving average and 
extending a decline that had it down each day this week.  
    For the week the index is down 3.3 percent, its biggest 
weekly decline since April, when biotechs suffered a major 
correction on worries over valuation. While they have since 
recovered, concerns still remain about the group, which derives 
much of its value from such volatile factors as updates on drug 
pipelines. 
    "Biotechs have been a market leader recently, but now 
they're taking a breather as we reevaluate after payrolls," said 
Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York. 
    Far fewer jobs were added in August, according to the 
closely watched payroll report, adding an element of uncertainty 
over the labor market.  ID:nL1N0R510P  
    Achillion Pharmaceuticals  ACHN.O  is the group's biggest 
decliner, off 10.5 percent at $11.83, while Gilead Sciences 
 GILD.O  lost 4.4 percent to $102.12. Bucking the trend was 
Vertex Pharmaceuticals  VRTX.O , up 4.1 percent to $95.26 after 
Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral." The 
stock is the biggest percentage gainer on the S&P 500. 
    Index snapshot at 10:37: 
    * S&P 500  .SPX  is falling 4.4 points, 0.22 percent. 
    * Nasdaq Comp  .IXIC  is down 11.30 points, 0.25 percent. 
    * Dow industrials  .DJI  are down 34.23 points, 0.2 percent. 
    * Russell 2000  .TOY  is falling 3.91 points, 0.33 percent. 
    * S&P MidCap  .IDX  is down 3.17 points, 0.22 percent. 
    * S&P SmallCap  .SPCY  is off 2.16 points, 0.32 percent. 
 
:             
10:04 - U.S. stocks are slightly lower on Friday, with indexes 
sinking as the impact of a weaker-than-expected payroll report 
took its toll. 
    Some investors found solace in the report, because it 
suggests the Federal Reserve will remain on hold for a longer 
period of time, but the report also worries some concerned about 
a labor market that continues to struggle. 
    "While a lot of recent reports have been better, there's 
been a real question of how much of that strength reflects 
ongoing improvement in the economy, and how much is bounce-back 
from the first-quarter hole," said Bruce McCain, chief 
investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, Ohio. 
    "Markets like the idea of lower rates for longer than they 
do the idea of economic strength, strange as that is." 
    The Dow Jones industrial average  .DJI  is falling 23.89 
points, or 0.14 percent, to 17,045.69, the S&P 500  .SPX  is 
down 3.06 points, or 0.15 percent, to 1,994.59 and the Nasdaq 
Composite  .IXIC  is losing 5.40 points, or 0.12 percent, to 
4,556.88. With Friday's decline, major indexes are on track to 
snap a four-week streak of gains. The Dow is down 0.3 percent 
for the week, the S&P is off 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq is down 
0.4 percent. 
    Volume so far on U.S. exchanges is 0.573 billion shares, 
compared to 5.64 billion average for the full session so far 
this month, according to BATS exchange data. 
    The largest percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange 
is Infoblox Inc  BLOX.N , which is up 11.63 percent, while the 
largest percentage decliner is Quiksilver Inc  ZQK.N , down 
28.27 percent. 
    At the NYSE, the most active stocks are Bank of America 
 BAC.N , down 0.43 percent to $16.04, as well as the U.S. listed 
shares of both Petroleo Brasil  PBR.N , up 2.03 percent to 
$19.72 and Vale SA ADR  VALE.N , down 1.09 percent to $12.68. 
    On the Nasdaq, the top 3 most active stocks are Gilead 
Sciences  GILD.O , down 4.8 percent to $101.70; Apple Inc 
 AAPL.O , up 0.9 percent to $99.00 and U.S. shares of Prana 
Biotech  PRAN.O , up 25.7 percent to $2.69. 
    Declining issues are outnumbering advancing ones on the NYSE 
by 1,646 to 1,068, for a 1.54-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the 
Nasdaq, 1,509 issues are falling and 701 advancing for a 
2.15-to-1 ratio favoring decliners. 
    The broad S&P 500 index is posting 2 new 52-week highs and 1 
new lows; the Nasdaq Composite is recording 13 new highs and 20 
new lows.   
     
 
09:12 - The Market Vectors Russia exchange-traded fund  RSX.P  
is rallying in premarket trading, up 2.8 percent to $25.35 
following news that an agreement to start a ceasefire in eastern 
Ukraine had been reached. 
    The ETF, a favored play for investors wanting exposure to 
Russia, is tracking the gains in Russian assets; the 
dollar-denominated RTS index  .IRTS  is up 1.9 percent. 
    The ceasefire is scheduled to begin at 1500 GMT. 
 ID:nL5N0R62IM  
    The ETF has been a trading favorite this year, with 1.184 
billion shares traded thus far in 2014, already eclipsing all of 
2013's action and putting it within a fraction of 2011's 1.187 
billion shares, which was the fund's most active year ever. 
    Futures snapshot at 9:05: 
    * S&P 500 e-minis  ESc1  are falling 4.75 points, 0.24 
percent with 378,025 contracts changing hands. 
    * Nasdaq 100 e-minis  NQc1  are gaining 0.5 points, 0.01 
percent in volume of 55,603 contracts. 
    * Dow e-minis  1YMc1  are down 48 points, 0.28 percent with 
46,166 contracts changing hands. 
     
 
08:53-U.S. stock index futures pared their early gains to turn 
flat on Friday, following a payroll report that came in far 
below expectations.  
    About 142,000 jobs were added in August, well under the 
225,000 that had been expected. But while this indicated an 
economy that continues to struggle, it also gave the Federal 
Reserve more reasons to wait a bit longer before raising 
interest rates.  ID:nL1N0R510P  
    Futures were lower prior to the release of the data, but are 
now pointing to an essentially flat market open, "a sign of 
relief on the part of investors who were worried about the Fed 
raising rates sooner than expected," said Wayne Kaufman, chief 
market analyst at Phoenix Financial Services in New York, who 
said there was now "no risk of change on that front." 
    Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private 
Bank in Cleveland, Ohio, agrees with this assessment. "Markets 
like the idea of lower rates for longer than they do the idea of 
economic strength, strange as that is," he said. 
    Futures snapshot at 8:49: 
    * S&P 500 e-minis  ESc1  are falling 2 points, 0.1 percent 
with 340,959 contracts changing hands. 
    * Nasdaq 100 e-minis  NQc1  are gaining 6.25 points, 0.15 
percent in volume of 49,183 contracts. 
    * Dow e-minis  1YMc1  are down 23 points, 0.13 percent with 
42,795 contracts changing hands. 
 
From earlier in the session:     
08:29- Priceline Group Inc  PCLN.O  shares are slightly lower in 
premarket trading on Friday, after Evercore downgraded the S&P 
500's most expensive stock, citing moves by Google Inc  GOOGL.O  
to enter the online travel space. 
    Google's travel initiative "likely level s  the search 
playing field in travel like we have never seen before," the 
firm wrote to clients, adding that the plans "leave certain 
travel industry players more exposed." 
    Evercore wrote that Google was expecting to unveil a 
"captive demand" platform in partnership with major hotel 
brands, and that it expected further integration of Google's 
Maps and Wallet programs with travel services. 
    Priceline was downgraded to "equal weight" and its price 
target was lowered by $100 to $1,350, though Evercore also 
upgraded TripAdvisor  TRIP.O  to that same rating. "While 
Google's actions do stand to be competitive to TripAdvisor too, 
TRIP's ability to integrate an assisted bookings path on behalf 
of suppliers and brands in similar fashion to Google leaves us 
more favorable." 
    Shares of Priceline are down 0.8 percent at $1,210.50, 
though it remains up 5 percent on the year. 
    Futures snapshot at 8:26: 
    * S&P 500 e-minis  ESc1  are falling 7.75 points, 0.39 
percent with 202,869 contracts changing hands. 
    * Nasdaq 100 e-minis  NQc1  are down 6.5 points, 0.16 
percent in volume of 30,315 contracts. 
    * Dow e-minis  1YMc1  are down 60 points, 0.35 percent with 
29,648 contracts changing hands. 
     
From earlier in the session:     
07:57- Prana Biotechnology Ltd  PBT.AX  and El Pollo Loco 
 LOCO.O  are among the biggest movers of the premarket session 
on Friday, with both names rallying on heavy volume. 
    El Pollo Loco is up 4.3 percent to $36.30 a day after 
better-than-expected results released after the market closed on 
Thursday. The day's gain extends the restaurant's momentum since 
going public in late July, with the stock up more than 80 
percent since its IPO. The results could ease concerns the stock 
has come up too far since going public.  ID:nASB08SUM  
    U.S. shares of Prana  PRAN.O  are up 18 percent at $2.53 
after the company received orphan drug designation from the Food 
and Drug Administration for its treatment of Huntington Disease. 
The stock is on track for its biggest one-day jump since May 27, 
though it had shed almost 70 percent year-to-date. 
    Futures snapshot at 7:55: 
    * S&P 500 e-minis  ESc1  are falling 6.75 points, 0.34 
percent with 183,270 contracts changing hands. 
    * Nasdaq 100 e-minis  NQc1  are down 5.5 points, 0.14 
percent in volume of 27,583 contracts. 
    * Dow e-minis  1YMc1  are down 55 points, 0.32 percent with 
27,360 contracts changing hands. 
     
From earlier in the session:  
07:17- U.S. stock index futures are modestly lower on Friday, 
with investors looking ahead to the release of the August 
payroll report, which is expected to show improvement in the 
labor market. 
    About 225,000 jobs are expected to have been added in the 
month, up from 209,000 in July. While a strong report will serve 
as the latest indication the economy is improving, some 
investors may worry that a positive report means the Federal 
Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than currently expected. 
    Recent data has been strong, though there may be some 
caution following Thursday's ADP report on private sector 
employment, which came in under expectations, and the latest 
read on weekly jobless claims, which rose more than expected. 
    Equities have been under slight pressure this week, with the 
Dow currently down 0.2 percent, the S&P off 0.3 percent and the 
Nasdaq off 0.4 percent. All three are coming off four straight 
weeks of gains. 
    Futures snapshot at 7:16: 
    * S&P 500 e-minis  ESc1  are falling 6.5 points, 0.33 
percent with 169,252 contracts changing hands. 
    * Nasdaq 100 e-minis  NQc1  are down 6 points, 0.15 percent 
in volume of 25,901 contracts. 
    * Dow e-minis  1YMc1  are down 52 points, 0.3 percent with 
25,651 contracts changing hands. 
 
 (Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica, Saqib Ahmed, Caroline 
Valetkevitch) 
 ((ryan.vlastelica@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +1 646-223-6014; 
Reuters Messaging: 
ryan.vlastelica@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))