Market Update

 11:35 a.m. ET

*****The members' site is back up with email notification. I'll be posting there after this.

The S&P 500 continues to trade near its flat line in a mixed session. The benchmark index will have another shot at closing at a record high, as it trades a few points below that level (3386.15). The beat in Initial Claims hasn't led to any positive market reaction, evidenced in the weak tone in the cyclicals, and little movement in bond yields.

The mega-caps are driving gains in NASDAQ (+0.7%), particularly Apple. - Technology (+0.7%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.55%) and Communications (+1.1%).

On the other side - Energy (-1.2%), Financials (-0.9%) and Banks (-1.8%) are notably weak. Small Caps are nearly flat with the S&P and Dow -0.2%.

S&P is less than a tenth of a percent from the February level it has been struggling to meet. It's hard to believe the mega-caps weight isn't getting the job done here.

SP-500 (1m) and an equal weight index of the FANGs

Otherwise, market participation is poor.

NASDAQ 100 (2m) led by the mega-caps, but the advance/decline line shows little participation elsewhere. The divergence here is similar to that of HY Credit.

It will be interesting to see if the NASDAQ fades again with a pick up in selling at the top of this zone?

NASDAQ 100 (30m) the proposed distribution zone since NASDAQ's Key Reversal Day.

PLUG's (+10.4%) price made a comeback

PLUG (15m) so naturally I wish I had held, but I couldn't take the risk of giving back all gains on a measured move to fill the gap.

For now the S&P is struggling with the longest yard, or inch.

Early Update

 10:18 a.m. ET

The averages open mixed with NASDAQ 100 (+0.4%) and Small Caps (+0.45%)  best, and Dow (-0.15%) the laggard. The mega-cap tech stocks are green, most up around 1%. Small Caps are coming alive on the upside with the re-opening trade (airlines, cruise lines, etc) are starting to perk up after the initial claims report.

S&P-500 is unchanged (0%) hovering below the February closing high.

SP-500 (2m) 

The majority of S&P sectors are little changed like the S&P. The early leaders are mega-cap heavy Consumer Discretionary (+0.3%) and Communications (+0.8%.). Technology was an early leader, it gave up early gains to unchanged.

The laggards are  Energy (-0.3%), Financials (-0.3%) Banks (-0.8%) and Health Care (-0.5%).

Volatility was on the weak side (VIX -1%), but is coming up as Tech comes down.

The U.S. Dollar (-0.5%) continues to slide lower following the better than expected Initial Claims report, which is helpful for stocks and commodities.  Yields a between 0 and +1.5 bp in modest curve steepening.

Credit is green, well actually it's mixed, but it's not worse. It's also not better.

SP-500 (1m) and HYG

The rotation to value/cyclicals is not a factor and it seems like the S&P's February closing high is the focus as a major psychological magnet. Credit remains one of the biggest near term eyesores for the broader market.

A.M. Update

 Index futures start mixed. Most have been edging slightly lower, NASDAQ futures have been edging higher in follow-through from yesterday's NASDAQ led gains.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims fell below 1 million for the first time in 21 weeks. Claims totaled 963,000 (consensus 1.150 million). Today's tally was below the prior week's revised count of 1.191 million (from 1.186 million). Continuing claims decreased to 15.486 million from a revised count of 16.090 million (from 16.107 million).

Asia closed mixed, while Europe trades lower.

China's aviation regulators announced that passenger traffic in July was down 34.1% yr/yr after being down 42.4% in June. Australia reported better than expected employment figures for July, but the report does not reflect the impact of aggressive lockdown measures taken at the end of the month.

• China's July FDI 0.5% (last -1.3%)
• Japan's July PPI 0.6% m/m (expected 0.3%; last 0.6%); -0.9% yr/yr (expected -1.1%; last -1.6%)
• Australia's July Employment Change 114,700 (expected 40,000; last 210,800) and Full Employment Change 43,500 (last -38,100). July Unemployment Rate 7.5% (expected 7.8%; last 7.4%) and July Participation Rate 64.7% (expected 64.4%; last 64.0%). August MI Inflation Expectations 3.3% (last 3.2%)
• New Zealand's July FPI 1.2% m/m (last 0.5%)

European officials welcomed the U.S. decision to hold off on imposing additional tariffs over subsidies to Airbus. The two sides will begin a new resolution process. Wirecard will be replaced by Delivery Hero in the DAX. Italy sold 3-, 7-, and 30-yr debt.

• Germany's July CPI -0.5% m/m, as expected (last 0.6%); -0.1% yr/yr, as expected (last 0.9%)
• France's Q2 Unemployment Rate 7.1% (expected 8.3%; last 7.8%)
• Spain's July CPI -0.9% m/m, as expected (last 0.5%); -0.6% yr/yr, as expected (last -0.3%)

S&P futures got a little upward boost from Initial Jobless Claims coming in better than expected, and trade just fractionally above the flat line. NASDAQ 100 futures display relative strength up +0.55%.

U.S. Treasuries trade near their flat lines. The 2-yr yield is flat at 0.16%, and the 10-yr yield is flat at 0.68%.

The U.S. Dollar Index is down -0.4% to 93.07, dipping more on initial claims.

WTI crude futures are flat at $42.67/bbl.

Gold futures are -0.4% to 1940.0/oz., but silver futures are up +1.8% to $26.46. Conversely, Copper futures a down -1.5%- the copper:gold ratio is falling toward the reality of yields.

I'll be watching how HY credit trades today after two ugly days back-to-back.