Stocks Consolidate Ahead of Fed Meeting

Bulls overcame the early selloff in all three major
indices and helped pull them back to close nearly flat.  HP
helped hold the Dow up today after guiding higher for Q3.  HP
shares rose nearly 3% in Tuesday’s session.

June crude futures rose 1.3% to
close at $62.26 per barrel after attacks by militants in Nigeria
shut down 3 pipelines. 

June gold futures declined 0.4% to $687.40 an ounce.

Around Europe, Germany’s DAX fell 1.1%
to close at 7,442.20, France’s CAC 40 Index lost 0.6% to 6,034.25,
and Britain’s FTSE 100 Index lost 0.8% to 6,550.40.


Our

PowerRatings Heat Map
is showing continuing widespread weakness across many
sectors.  These include Banking, Diversified Services, Energy, Metals/Mining, Internet,
Transportation, and Computer Hardware.


Click here to see our new list of indicators that includes

Gaps Down 5% or More
,

2-Period RSI Below 2
,

Stocks Up 10% or More
.  Historically proven edges make
these a great place to start making a watch list.
 


Stocks in
Motion

Hewlett-Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Hikes Q2 Targets On Strong PC
Business; Guides Q3 (full
story
).  HPQ shares rose 2.1%.

Motorola
(
MOT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Says Preliminary Estimates Indicate Carl Icahn Not Elected To Board (full
story
).  MOT shares fell 2.1%.

Expedia
(
EXPE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

Q1 Profit Rises 49%, Adj. EPS Misses Consensus By 2 Cents (full
story
).  EXPE dropped nearly 3%.


CVS/Caremark
(
CVS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Q1 Profit Rises 24% On Revenue, Margin Growth,
April Comps. Rise 6.1% (full
story
).  CVS shares rose by 2.5%.


Wynn Resorts
(
WYNN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Swings To Q1 Profit (full
story
).  WYNN shares lost 1.9%.


McDermott
(
MDR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Q1 Earnings Surge, Top Estimate (full
story
).  MDR shares jumped 11%.


Marsh & Mclennan
(
MMC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Q1 Profit Falls 36%; Revenue Up 5%; Board
Approves $500 Mln Buyback (full
story
).  MMC shares lost 2.6%.

For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking News section.

Market Snapshot

Dow

-3.90 13,309.07

NASDAQ

+0.80 2,571.75

S&P 500

-1.76 1,507.72

 

NYSE NASDAQ

Volume

2,760,667,000 1,895,206,000

Advances

1273 1227

Declines

1926 1807

Up Volume

1030 1015

Down Volume

1521 765

New Highs

160 144

New Lows

25 62


   



Strongest/Weakest Sectors

Strongest Sectors

Weakest Sectors

GSTI Hardware Index (GHA) Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI)
Nasdaq Telecom Index (IXTCX) Amex Natural Gas Index (XNG)
GSTI Multimedia Index (GIP) Deutsche Bank Energy Index (DXE)


Economic
News

Wholesale
Inventories 0.3% vs 0.4% consensus

Darren Wong

Associate Editor

darrenw@tradingmarkets.com