Wednesday, July 24, 2013
By:
Mark Hanna
U.S. stocks continued to stall near May 2013 highs as a litany of earnings reports came in. Apple (AAPL) and Ford (F) were bright spots while Caterpillar (CAT) was a disappointment. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% while the NASDAQ was fractionally higher due to the surge in Apple which is a major component. Ten year Treasury yields rose to 2.59%.
New home sales jumped 8.3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 497,000 units, the highest level since May 2008, according to the Commerce Department. Still, the reading was below economists' projections for a 482,000-unit rate.
Crude oil fell 1.7% to $105.39, gold dropped 1.1% to $1319.70, and silver 1.2% to $20.02.
British stocks added 0.35%, German stocks 0.8%, and French stocks 1.0%.
European shares were boosted by better-than-expected flash PMI (purchasing managers' index) data for the euro zone. Euro zone PMI rose to an 18-month high in July. The euro zone flash composite PMI for July came in at 50.4 versus forecasts of 49.1 and June's reading of 48.7. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion of output.
France's composite PMI was at a 17-month high with a reading of 48.8 up from 47.4 in June. Meanwhile, Germany's composite figure came in at 52.8 from 50.4 in June.
Japan fell 0.3%, while China dropped 0.5%.
HSBC's flash estimate of Chinese PMI fell to an 11-month low of 47.7 in July, fueling fears of further slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. A score above 50 indicates rising factory activity while a score below 50 signals a contraction.
Mark Hanna, known in the financial community as "TraderMark," provides his insightful daily market coverage in this column, exclusive to Euro Pacific Capital.
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