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1:30 pm : A lack of leadership has left the broad market mired near the neutral line. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq is now negative. If selling accelerates, stocks will be threatened with their ninth loss in 11 sessions.DJ30 +23.96 NASDAQ -0.80 SP500 +1.61 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1145/1.03 bln/1275 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1345/385 mln/1585 1:00 pm : The broad market is up only modestly after surrendering strong gains staged this morning. Many market participants continue to take their cues from the euro, given that it offers a tacit signal of sentiment in the efforts of the eurozone to prevent already precarious conditions from deteriorating. A solid bid ahead of the open was reinforced a surprisingly strong monthly housing starts number and a generally in-line building permits number. Stronger-than-expected industrial production and a pickup in capacity utilization also helped set the tone for a firmer open. However, the euro's inability to put together a gain triggered selling interest that forced stocks to forfeit all but a modest portion of their gains. The euro has oscillated all session, but a flurry of selling followed news that the ECB may be suspending services to certain banks in Greece. It has since recovered to trade flat against the greenback. Energy stocks had looked like a source of strength in the early going, but the sector has retreated alongside the broad market so that it is now up just 0.1% for the session. Oil prices remain under pressure as they grapple with a 0.8% loss at $93.25 per barrel. Earlier today oil set a new 2012 low beneath $93 per barrel. 4:30 pm : Stocks slipped after a choppy start to the session, but buyers eventually stepped back in to provide a broad lift. Their efforts picked up right around the time that trade in Europe wrapped up. Sentiment this morning was initially imbued by renewed worries about financial conditions in Europe, where the region's major bourses traded with weakness once again. Once trade there was closed, the mood among market participants quickly improved. At about the same time the euro started to move off of its intraday low, although it was still down about 0.7% against the greenback at session's end. The Nasdaq was able to outperform its counterparts with help from tech stocks. As a group, tech issues advanced 1.3%. Intel (INTC 25.34, +0.71) was a steady leader, but Dell (DELL 15.63, +0.31) also advanced nicely ahead of its quarterly announcement. Wal-Mart (WMT 57.46, -1.43) weighed on the Dow for virtually the entire session. The stock's weakness came after the retail behemoth failed to produce the earnings expected by Wall Street. An upside earnings surprise helped Home Depot (HD 38.07, -0.18) shares bounce at the open, but the stock failed to hold that move and never really recovered, not even amid the broad market's afternoon bounce. Word of an oil leak at a rig run by Chevron (CVX 103.27, -2.90) and Transocean (RIG 47.86, -1.85) dragged down the pair's shares, as well as those of other oil and gas services players. Collectively, energy stocks logged a 0.2% loss, making them the only major sector that failed to score a gain. |