It would seem as though this market just can’t decide what it wants to do, so it just does nothing. The action was a little bit better than yesterday’s, but the results weren’t real helpful in determining the next move. The major indices moved literally nowhere, with the Dow Industrials up 4 points to 10559 (the Dow was hurt late in the day by a dip in Merck, after the company was found liable in a Texas lawsuit), the S&P 500 up less than a point to 1220 and the Nasdaq down less than a point at 2136. The Russell 2000 moved only a little more than the big boys, gaining 1 point (+0.2%) to 653. The Dow Transports gained 0.2% and the Dow Utilities gained 0.8%, while the bond market was relatively flat on the day. The 5-year Treasury is at 4.08% and the 10-year at 4.21%.
Market internals were more positive than yesterday, but there was little conviction in the volume numbers. Advances/declines were 9 to 7 on the NYSE and 8 to 7 on the Nasdaq, with up/down volume just better than flat on each exchange. Not much movement in the new highs/lows either, at 59/25 on the NYSE and 40/39 on the Nasdaq.
The group action was improved from yesterday’s, with some of the commodity related stocks getting a slight bounce. Leading the move up were the oil stocks (+1.8%), followed by natural resources (+1.6%), oil services (+1.6%), natural gas (+1.5%), biotechs (+1.3%) and networking stocks (+1.2%). Losers on the day were airlines (-1.1%) and the struggling retailers (-0.9%).
Even though stocks didn’t move, crude oil prices did, bouncing back by more than $2 to $65.35 on supply jitters. The dollar index held steady at 88.60, and the price of gold slid to $437/ounce.
BMB Note: Nothing’s changed. The market still seems to be teetering here, resting on support, but dangerously close to slipping and falling over the edge. The next big volume move will likely tell the tale.