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BKX, BAC, XLF,C, RIMM, HLF, SPXRT, XLK, IBM, AAPL, GOOG

DJIA 13190.84-120.88 (-0.91%) NAS 3021.01-29.38 (-0.96%) S&P 5001430.15-13.54 (-0.94%)

US stocks managed to rebound from Friday’s lows near the end of the session, and on the week, the 3 major US stock indexes finished higher, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.2%, the DJIA gained 0.4% and the NAS rose 1.7%

Trading was volatile because of waning confidence in the prospect of a deal out of Washington, and in part, as the result of the Quarterly expiration of options, futures contracts, stock options and single stock futures contracts.

The declines of about 1% in the 3 major US stock indexes suggest that investors do not believe the economy will be unduly damaged by the absence of a deal on the budget this year.

Watching the VIX: The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX or VIX, the market’s favorite barometer of investor anxiety, finished below its session high Friday.

Volume: About 8.59-B shares changed hands on major US exchanges, more than the daily average of 6.47-B daily in y 2012, in part because of the “Quadruple Witching” Friday.

This sharp decline Friday did not change the technical picture, and will not unless it deeper extends next week.
US Major Market Indexes Technical Analysis
Date Symbol Price Technical Analysis Support Resistance
21 Dec 2012 QQQ 65.2 Neutral (-0.02) 64.70 65.64
21 Dec 2012 DIA 131.79 Neutral (0.09) 130.73 132.33
21 Dec 2012 SPY 142.79 Bullish (0.25) 142.05 142.87

The financial sector led Thursday’s advance as market participants showed optimism ahead of the scheduled vote on ‘Plan B.’

The vote did not happen, and legislators are not left with just a couple business days when they return to work after Christmas next Thursday.

After adding nearly 4.0% between Monday’s open and Thursday’s close, The SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF XLF 16.40, -0.19 lost 1.2%. The banking shares, which outperform during expansion and have led the market on signs of progress on resolving the fiscal impasse, led Friday’s declines

Among the majors, Bank of America NYSE:BAC 11.29, -0.23 and Citigroup NYSE:C 39.49, -0.68 were 2 of the weakest performers as they finished with respective losses of 2.0% and 1.7%. The KBW Banks index .BKX lost 1.19%.

Looking at tech stocks, the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF NYSEArca:XLK 28.95, -0.25 settled lower by 1.2% and major sector components registered comparable losses.

Apple NASDAQ:AAPL 519.33, -2.40, Google NASDAQ:GOOG 715.63, -6.73, and International Business Machines NYSE:IBM 193.42, -1.35 all lost between 0.5% and 0.9%.

On Friday, Herbalife NYSE:HLF dropped for an 8th straight session as hedge fund manager, Bill Ackman, ramped up his campaign against the company. The stock skidded 19.2% to 27.27 and has lost more than 35% on the week.

US listed shares of Research in Motion NASDAQ:RIMM dove 22.7% to $10.91 after the Canadian company, known as the BlackBerry maker, reported its first-ever decline in its subscriber numbers Thursday alongside a new fee structure for its high-margin services segment.

The day’s round of data indicated the economy was surprisingly resilient in November; consumer spending rose by the most in 3 yrs and a gauge of business investment rose.

But separate data showed consumer sentiment declined in December. The S&P Retail Index .SPXRT fell 1.2 percent.

Today’s economic data was plentiful and most figures were reported ahead of expectations. November durable goods orders increased by 0.7%, which was better than the 0.2% increase that had been expected among economists polled. This comes after the prior month’s reading was revised up to reflect an increase of 1.1%.

Excluding transportation related items, durable goods orders increased in November by 1.6%, which was better than the 0.2% decrease that had been broadly anticipated. Prior month’s reading was revised from +1.8% to +1.9%.

Personal income increased by 0.6% in November, which was ahead of the 0.3% increase expected by the Briefing.com consensus.

Personal spending increased by 0.4%, which was ahead of the expected up tick of 0.3%. Core personal consumption expenditures were unchanged, which fell short of the broadly expected reading of +0.1%.

The University of Michigan’s final December Consumer Sentiment Survey fell to 72.9 from the 74.5 that was posted in the preliminary Survey. The Briefing.com consensus expected the reading to rise to 74.