Closing Market Summary: Equities Finish Flat on MondayThe equity market opened the week with a sleepy, range-bound performance that left the major averages little changed from where they closed on Friday. The S&P 500 and the Dow finished just a tick below their flat lines while the Nasdaq eked out a narrow victory.
Sector movement was very modest as market-moving headlines were few and far between. Seven groups advanced--technology (unch), consumer discretionary (+0.3%), utilities (+0.4%), consumer staples (+0.1%), real estate (+0.2%), telecom services (+0.2%), and materials (+0.2%)--and four groups declined--financials (-0.1%), health care (-0.3%), industrials (-0.1%), and energy (-0.2%).
The influential health care sector struggled following weekend reports that the Senate will delay a vote on health care reform, which was originally scheduled for this week, and ahead of tomorrow morning's earnings reports Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 132.15, -0.45) and UnitedHealth (UNH 186.35, -0.55).
Meanwhile, the consumer discretionary group outperformed, thanks in large part to retailers, which pushed the SPDR S&P 500 Retail ETF (XRT 40.22, +0.36) higher by 0.9%. Amazon (AMZN 1010.04, +8.23) also exhibited relative strength, adding 0.8%, after the company's target price was raised to $1,200 at UBS.
Outside of the equity market, select safe-haven assets, including gold and U.S. Treasuries, ticked up on Monday; gold advanced 0.5% to $1,234.00/ozt while the benchmark 10-yr yield, which moves inversely to the price of the 10-yr Treasury note, slipped three basis points to 2.31%.
In addition, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 9.87, +0.36), which is used to gauge investors' anticipation of short-term volatility, jumped 3.7%. However, it's important to note that, despite today's advance, the VIX remains at a historically-low level.
Reviewing today's economic data, which was limited to the Empire Manufacturing Survey for July:
- The Empire Manufacturing Survey for July fell to 9.8 from the prior month's reading of 19.8. The consensus estimate was pegged at 13.0.
On Tuesday, investors will receive several economic reports, including June Export/Import Prices at 8:30 ET, the July NAHB Housing Market Index (consensus 67) at 10:00 ET, and July Net Long-Term TIC Flows at 16:00 ET.
