Markets: News  

The stock market finished Wednesday on a slightly higher note. The Nasdaq (+0.4%) outperformed throughout the day while the S&P 500 (+0.2%) and Dow (unch) finished closer to their flat lines. The Russell 2000 (-0.8%) underperformed after a strong start to the week. Equities recorded the bulk of their gains in morning trade while afternoon action saw some backtracking from highs. The modest advance unfolded in quiet fashion as gains among influential sectors like technology (+0.7%), health care (+0.3%), and consumer discretionary (+0.2%) outweighed losses in financials (-0.2%) and industrials (-0.9%). Smaller sectors ended at the extremes of the performance table as utilities (+1.9%) and real estate (+1.4%) claimed the top two spots while materials (-1.1%) and energy (-0.8%) finished at the bottom. The technology sector received an early boost from Intel (INTC 56.95, +3.71, +7.0%) after the company announced that its CEO will be replaced by VMWare's (VMW 133.20, -9.71, -6.8%) current CEO in February. Intel's strength did not invite significant buying interest in other chipmakers, as nearly two thirds of the names in the PHLX Semiconductor Index (+0.1%) finished in the red. The consumer discretionary sector (+0.2%) also contributed to today's advance, but that was largely thanks to a strong gain in Amazon (AMZN 3165.89, +45.06, +1.4%), which reclaimed its 50-day moving average. Homebuilders received an early boost from a better than expected quarterly report from KB Home (KBH 35.01, +0.86, +2.5%), but the stock surrendered the bulk of its gain as the day went on while the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB 56.50, -0.19, -0.3%) finished with a modest loss after backing down from a two-week high. On the downside, the energy sector (-0.8%) narrowed this week's gain to 4.3% while crude oil slipped $0.28, or 0.5%, to $52.92/bbl after reaching a fresh 11-month high. Exxon Mobil (XOM 48.42, +0.54, +1.1%) outperformed within the energy sector, climbing in response to an upgrade to Overweight from Neutral with a $56 target at JP Morgan. In Washington, the House of Representatives began voting on the impeachment of President Trump as the Wall Street session drew to its close. Treasuries rebounded after six days of losses in longer tenors, sending the 10-yr yield down five basis points to 1.09%. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.3% to 90.36. Reviewing today's economic data: Total CPI increased 0.4% m/m in December (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) while core CPI increased 0.1% m/m (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%). The uptick in total CPI was driven largely by an 8.4% increase in the gasoline index, which accounted for more than 60% of the overall increase. The key takeaway from the report is that it won't trigger inflation alarm bells in an aggregate sense. Total CPI is up just 1.4% yr/yr, versus 1.2% in November, while core CPI held steady at 1.2% yr/yr for the third straight month. The latter views notwithstanding, inflation worries -- both real and imagined -- promise to be a pressing issue throughout the year. The December Treasury Budget showed a $143.6 bln deficit, versus a $13.3 bln deficit in the same period a year ago. The budget data is not seasonally adjusted, so the December deficit can't be compared to the November deficit of -$145.3 bln. Total receipts of $346.1 bln were $10.3 bln more than the same period last year. Individual income taxes were the largest source of receipts at $144 bln. The weekly MBA Mortgage Index jumped 16.7% as the Refinance Index spiked 20.1% while the Purchase Index rose 8.0%. Weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 780,000; prior 787,000), Continuing Claims (prior 5.072 mln), December Import Prices (prior 0.1%), Export Prices (prior 0.6%), Import Prices ex-oil (prior -0.3%), and Export Prices ex-agriculture (prior 0.3%) will be reported tomorrow at 8:30 ET. Russell 2000 +6.9% YTD Nasdaq Composite +1.9% YTD Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.5% YTD S&P 500 +1.4% YTD