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US Stocks: Wall Street finishes mixed

AKS, STLD, IQNT, LEAP, S, PCS,IYZ, CWN, CHRW, JBHT, LUV, LSTR, CEA, UAL, FSLR, TAN

The materials sector led the way. Within the group, steel producers outperformed.

AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) 4.87, +0.05 and Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) 11.91, +0.18 added 1.0% and 1.5%, respectively.

Telecom stocks were the biggest laggard. However, the under performance was due to notable weakness in a single stock.

Inteliquent (NASDAQ:IQNT) 7.70, -1.36) fell 15.0% after Robert W. Baird downgraded the stock from ‘outperform’ to ‘neutral’ and lowered its price target from $15 to $10.

Other telecom names were generally higher and the iShares Dow Jones US Telecom ETF (IYZ 25.76, +0.16) added 0.6%. Two sector components which have been in the headlines recently showed gains. Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) 6.18, +0.33) and Sprint (NYSE:S) 5.20, +0.11 gained between 2.2% and 5.6%. Earlier, reports suggested that Sprint plans on holding a 2nd meeting to discuss a possible offer for MetroPCS (PCS 12.65, -0.04).

The Dow Jones Transportation Average continued its recent streak of out-performance and settled higher by 0.7%. Within the bellwether complex, 16 out of 20 stocks advanced and trucking stocks were the top performers.

Con-Way (NYSE:CNW) 27.98, +0.27, CH Robinson (NASDAQ:CHRW) 60.31, +0.41, JB Hunt (NASDAQ:JBHT) 55.20, +0.94), and Landstar (NASDAQ:LSTR) 48.96, +0.58 all posted gains between 0.7% and 1.7%.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) 8.97, -0.13 was the main decliner among transportation stocks, down 1.4%.

Despite weakness in Southwest, other air carriers outperformed. China Eastern Airlines (NYSE:CEA) 16.08, +0.28 advanced 1.8% while United Airlines (NYSE:UAL) 21.07, +0.22, added 1.3%.

Solar stocks were under pressure after Avian Securities downgraded First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) 20.07, -2.48 from ‘positive’ to ‘negative.’ The downgrade results from reliability issues related to the junction box on modules supplied by First Solar. FSLR fell 11.0%.

Other solar stocks also showed weakness as the Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN) 16.52, -0.49 settled lower by 2.9%.
Nonfarm payrolls were reported at 114-K vs the 120-K the consensus. The past reading was revised up to 142-K from 96-K. Meanwhile, nonfarm private payrolls added 104-K against the 130-K consensus.

The US unemployment rate was reported at 7.8% vs the 8.1% consensus.

Hourly earnings increased by 0.3%, the expectations called for an up-tick of 0.2%. Lastly, average workweek ticked up to 34.5 from 34.4.

Consumer credit increased by $18.1-B in August. This follows prior month’s reading of a $3.3-B decrease, and is higher than the $5.0-B that had been broadly expected among economists polled by Briefing.com.

There is no economic data of note scheduled to be released on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

The bond market will be closed Monday in observance of Columbus Day.

The stock market will be open on Monday.

US equities started the day on a higher note despite mixed jobs data. After reaching session highs within the 1st hr, the major averages reversed and spent the remainder of the day moving towards the unchanged level.

The S&P 500 finished flat, and the DJIA advanced 0.3% to close at its best level in 5 yrs.

DJIA 13615.40+34.79 (0.26%)

NAS 3136.19-13.27 (-0.42%)

S&P 500 1460.93-0.47 (-0.03%)

10-yr T-Note-17/32 1.736

NYSE Adv 1700 Dec 1288 Vol 606.0-M

NAS Adv 1121 Dec 1330 Vol 1.57-B

Industry Watch

Strong: Materials, Industrials, Consumer Discretionary

Weak: Telecoms, Technology