Some profit taking materialized on the broad
Some profit taking materialized on the broad market shortly after the open, but equities rallied back fairly strongly after dipping to their lows around noon. Still, the indexes lost ground modestly for the session. Early strength had been catalyzed by the Euro hitting a new two-month high this morning and by advances on Europe’s major stock exchanges.
In the day’s economic data releases, there was only one item: Initial jobless claims for the week ended July 24 came in at 457,000 (consensus estimate: 464,000 initial claims). Meanwhile, continuing claims reached 4.57 million compared to the 4.48 million claims registered a week prior.
Presenting the newest data on foreclosures in the US, RealtyTrac said the total number of American homeowners who received foreclosure warnings in the first six months of this year was roughly 1.7 million, a number that exceeds last year’s foreclosure rate by 8%. Market observers comment that a poor recovery in the labor market (a lack of job growth) coupled with overall weak economic growth contributed to this poor showing.
Some turbulent trading was seen today on the widely-held Cisco stock. In fact, trading in Cisco was temporarily halted intraday after a circuit breaker had been triggered due to a move of 10% or more in within a five-minute period. The halt is part of a set of new rules implemented by the SEC in the wake of the ominous ‘flash crash’ from early May; the contentious rules were introduced in June and are being tested for six months.
