Reply #51: 3:37 EST going into the close [View All]

[UpInArms]

Dow 10,592.38 -7.29 (-0.07%)
Nasdaq 2,091.36 +0.29 (+0.01%)
S&P 500 1,214.31 +0.70 (+0.06%)
10-Yr Bond 3.945 -1.04 (-2.57%)

NYSE Volume 1,547,171,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,484,227,000

3:30PM: No real change in sentiment heading into the close, as split industry leadership continues to dictate late-day action... One area that has been under pressure all day has been the Materials sector, as the U.S. dollar has shown resilience in the face of falling domestic interest rates... The greenback has gained against major currencies after minutes from the Bank of England's meeting showed that two out of the nine central bankers voted for a rate reduction... NYSE Adv/Dec 1773/1465, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1493/1511

3:00PM: Stocks still mired in relatively tight trading ranges, showing little reaction to the fact that benchmark yields have just closed at session lows... Even without any economic data today, global bond demand has lifted the 10-year note 26 ticks to yield 3.93% - its best levels in about two weeks... Thursday, however, brings an unusual appearance by Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan who, along with Treasury Secretary John Snow, will testify on China to Senate Finance panel (10:00 ET)...

Prior to their testimony, investors will digest initial claims (consensus 330K) - at 8:30 ET - followed by the 10:00 ET release of May existing home sales (consensus 7.15 mln)... NYSE Adv/Dec 1680/1533, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1448/1530

2:30PM: Range-bound trading persists, as the major indices still trade near the unchanged mark... Meanwhile, Ameritrade (AMTD 17.11 +2.29) has just resumed trading after recently confirming its plans to acquire TD Bank's (TD 44.20 +0.59) TD Waterhouse online brokerage for $2.9 bln... Also climbing to session highs following the announcement has been E*TRADE (ET 13.85 +0.94), now that a bidding war for AMTD will not take place and may in fact put ET itself into play...