The Stock Market At Close – Friday, May 12
The Toronto Market
The TSX composite index gained 2.01 points, or 0.01%, to close at 20,419.62 today. The index declined 0.6% for the week. That marks the third straight week of declines
The inflation report for April is due for release on Tuesday. Signs of a slowing economic growth in the United States and China weighed on the market sentiment both in here and in the US markets today. Wall Street stocks edged lower today as data showed that U.S. consumer sentiment fell to a six-month low in this month and long-term inflation expectations climbed.
The TSX technology sector fell 1.1%, while heavily weighted financials were down 0.2%. The industrials gained 0.8% while the resources (materials group) which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.7%.
Analysts are predicting the possibility of an economic climate with a combination of slow growth and high inflation in the near future.
Today’s Statistics: Today, the advancers outnumbered decliners. The ratio of gaining issues to declined issues was 1.04-to-1.00. In real numbers, 675 advancers to 649 decliners with 199 unchanged. There were 28 new 52 week highs and 37 new 52 week lows. The total volume of shares traded for gaining stocks was 148,027,800 or 48.6%; the total volume for declined stocks was 134,500,486 or 44.1% and 22,244,995 or 7.3% for “Unchanged”.
The US Market
The Dow Jones index declined 8.89 points, or 0.03%, to close at 33,300.62. The S&P 500 declined -6.54 points, or -0.16%, to close at 4,124.08. The Nasdaq Composite declined -43.76 points, or -0.35%, to close at 12,284.74. For the week, the Dow was declined -1.1%, the S&P 500 declined -0.3% and the Nasdaq gained 0.4%.
The indexes were down today but for both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones were down marginally. The volumes were down both on the Nasdaq and the NYSE. Investors are staying away. Really, the market is not OK. There are far too many stocks with a damaged chart. If one can stay on the sidelines for now, it probably would be a good idea to stay on the sidelines. “To shun danger is no cowardice” if we may borrow a related Shakespeare’s quote. There are too many stocks with a damaged chart.
The S&P 500 technology sector was down 0.2%, while the consumer discretionary index fell 0.9%. S&P 500 utilities and consumer staples were the leading sectors, both rising 0.4%.
The Congressional Budget Office said on Friday the U.S. faces a “significant risk” of defaulting on payment obligations within the first two weeks of June without a debt ceiling increase thus adding to the markets current market volatility and the downtrend posture.
Today’s Statistics: Today, the decliners prevailed over the advancers on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq. The ratio of declined issues to gaining issues on the NYSE was a 1.45-to-1. In real numbers, 2,278 decliners to 1,565 advancers with 283 unchanged. On the NASDAQ, the ratio of gaining issues to declined issues was 1.49-to-1 or in real numbers, 2,636 decliners to 1,766 advancers with 410 unchanged.
On the NYSE, there were 58 new 52 week highs and 139 new 52 week lows. The total volume for gaining stocks was 307,314,294 or 37.4%; the total volume for declining stocks was 496,474,840 or 60.4%; and 18,802,392 or 2.3% “Unchanged”. On the Nasdaq, there were 73 new 52 week highs and 250 new 52 week lows. The total volume of shares traded for gaining stocks was 1,552,303,640 or 36.5%; the total volume for declining stocks was 2,623,709,248 or 61.7% and 75,527,947 for “Unchanged” or 1.8%. The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and 15 new lows.
Stocks In The News/Stocks To Watch
The US Market
In company news, among the gainers, News Corp shares rallied 8.68% after the media conglomerate beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit. The stock gained $1.46 or 8.68% to close the regular market session at $18.28 with a volume of 1.4M shares traded.
First Solar Inc (FSLR) shares jumped 26.5% or $48.50 to end the market session at $231.69after the solar panel maker acquired Sweden’s thin-film solar cell technology firm Evolar AB. The volume of shares of FSLR changing hands today was 23.9M.
Shares of Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. were among the biggest drags on the S&P 500, along with Tesla. Shares of the big tech mega cap companies were battered last year .However, they so had an incredible run so far this year. The technology index is still up about 22% for this year.
Tesla Inc. shares fell 2.3% after jumping more than 2% yesterday, when Tesla CEO, Elon Musk announced he had found a new chief executive for Twitter. On Friday Elon Musk tweeted that the job went to former NBC Universal advertising chief Linda Yaccarino.
Regular Market Day Features
Beginner Investor’s (Canadian stocks) Watchlist
The Canadian Vanguard Chinese Stocks Watchlist
Today, our watchlist of Chinese based companies (US Market ADRs) is all red. Analyst are predicting a slow growth economic trend for both the US and China, the world’s number one and number 2 economies respectively, in the coming months. It mat be prudent to stay in cash and stay on the sidelines for a while to return to the market when things become more stable.
EV, Energy and Resource Stocks Watchlist at Today’s Market
. IMPORTANT NOTICES
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