- Markets end the day with modest losses
- Tech stocks fall
- Fed: Bond-purchase programmes only expected to last until the end of 2013

US stocks finished the day with modest losses on Thursday following the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's December policy meeting.

During the meeting policy-makers indicated that they believed the bond-purchase programmes would operate until December at the latest.

As regards the risks for the outlook for growth and inflation, this is what the Federal Open Market Committee had to say: "The staff viewed the uncertainty around the projection for economic activity as somewhat elevated and the risks as skewed to the downside, largely reflecting the possibility of a more severe tightening in US fiscal policy than expected, along with continued concerns about the economic and financial situation in Europe.

"Although the staff saw the outlook for inflation as uncertain, the risks were viewed as balanced and not unusually high."

That followed on the back of the release of a much better-than-expected payrolls number from private consultancy ADP.

Those figures - which are often quite volatile from month to month - buttressed sentiment ahead of Friday´s monthly employment report.

In any case, the current budget negotiations on Capitol Hill continued to be foremost on investors´ minds, particularly given the very cool response from the main ratings agencies, overnight, to the mini-pact reached last Tuesday in Washington.

Mixed retail sales data

Comparable sales data from the nation´s main retailers were coming in mixed on Thursday morning, although those from Gap, Macy´s and Ross Stores came in ahead of analysts´ estimates.

Retailer TJX Cos. revised its quarterly and full-year earnings per share estimates higher.

Altera Corp., Cypress Semiconductor Corp., Lam Research Corp., LSI Corp. and Volterra Semiconductor Corp. all ended the day lower after Barclays analyst C.J. Muse reduced his rating on all five stocks.

On a more positive note, JMP Securities upgraded its view on shares of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. For their part Citigroup and JP Morgan were upgraded to buy from neutral by analysts at Sterne Agee.

Ford, Chrysler and GM unveiled stronger-than-forecast vehicles sales figures for the month of December.

Hormel Foods was to purchase Skippy Peanut Butter from Unilever for $700m.

Piper Jaffray downgraded Biogen to underweight from neutral.

Stronger-than-forecast ADP number

Private sector payrolls in the US gained by 215,000 last month according to data from private consultant ADP (Consensus: 140,000), after an upwardly revised gain of 148,000 for November (from 118,000).

Weekly US initial unemployment claims rose to 372,000 last week, up from 362,000 (upwardly revised from an initial reading of 350,000 for the week before) and versus a consensus forecast of 362,000. Although the seasonal adjustment factors should have corrected for it the data showed a "strong holiday effect" the Department of Labour said. The four week moving average remained steady at 462,000.

Lay-off announcements at large US corporations came in at 32,556 for that same month, after a rise of 57,100 in the previous month, according to the so-called Challenger survey.

All of the above figures came ahead of the release of tomorrow´s monthly employment report in the US.

Large drop in crude futures

Crude oil fell 0.21% to $92.92 per barrel on the NYMEX.

10-year US Treasury yields are now rising by 7 basis points to 1.91%.




S&P 500 - Risers
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $58.78 +7.97%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $34.41 +7.57%
Lexmark International Inc. (LXK) $25.97 +7.49%
Alpha Natural Res (ANR) $10.15 +5.73%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $96.59 +4.98%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $6.90 +4.07%
Rowan Companies plc (RDC) $33.44 +3.82%
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) $33.27 +3.81%
Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $15.59 +3.73%
Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) $33.20 +3.72%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Family Dollar Stores Inc. (FDO) $55.74 -12.96%
Limited Brands Inc. (LTD) $44.71 -5.68%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $24.36 -5.07%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $51.99 -4.68%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $97.25 -3.82%
Phillips 66 Common Stock (PSX) $53.19 -3.75%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $52.21 -3.72%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $43.73 -3.68%
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $20.11 -3.50%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $65.87 -3.38%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $42.33 +2.39%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $94.40 +0.96%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $9.07 +0.89%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $15.14 +0.80%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $73.42 +0.77%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $90.63 +0.57%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $20.45 +0.54%
Boeing Co. (BA) $77.47 +0.52%
American Express Co. (AXP) $59.00 +0.43%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $84.31 +0.37%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $51.99 -4.68%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $27.25 -1.34%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $45.29 -1.26%
General Electric Co. (GE) $21.10 -1.12%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $68.80 -0.64%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $68.95 -0.63%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $11.96 -0.58%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $195.27 -0.55%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $44.06 -0.47%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $109.92 -0.43%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $58.78 +7.97%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $6.90 +4.07%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $45.15 +3.44%
Dell Inc. (DELL) $10.94 +2.48%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $11.75 +2.35%
Sirius XM Radio Inc (SIRI) $3.08 +1.99%
Priceline.Com Inc. (PCLN) $648.73 +1.62%
Catamaran Corp (CTRX) $49.26 +1.57%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $42.26 +1.34%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $503.67 +1.24%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $47.18 -4.18%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $97.25 -3.82%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $52.21 -3.72%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $65.87 -3.38%
Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $97.80 -2.91%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $40.95 -2.87%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $52.45 -2.13%
Altera Corp. (ALTR) $35.19 -1.98%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $31.38 -1.78%
Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) $22.90 -1.72%

NR

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