Stock Ticker from 1 hr 10 min ago[BRIEFING.COM] Some carryover...

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1 hr 10 min ago
[BRIEFING.COM] Some carryover momentum from Friday and a flurry of merger and acquisition deals had initially helped the equity market rise. Sharp rebounds in energy prices and rising bond yields took the steam out of the market, however. Last week, the indices closed in mixed fashion for the third consecutive time. The trend continued today.

This Merger Monday featured a host of deals. Amongst them were McClatchy's (MNI 51.55 -1.51) $6.5 billion purchase of Knight Ridder (KRI 63.92 1.08), Pinnacle Entertainment's (PNK 29.00 +1.04) approximate $2.1 billion cash acquisition of Aztar (AZR 37.21 +6.51), and Watson Pharmaceuticals' (WPI 29.00 -0.55) $1.9 billion cash agreement to buy Andrx (ADRX 23.73 +2.14). Further on the healthcare front, German drug company Schering AG (SHR 101.19 +21.49) received, and then rejected, an unsolicited $17 billion bid from Germany's Merck KGaA. As a side note, neither of those drugmakers are related to the similarly named U.S. pharmaceuticals. Despite the merger-related attention, the Healthcare sector spent the session near unchanged territory.

Occupying much of the M&A spotlight was Capital One's (COF 83.10 -6.82) $14.6 billion purchase of North Fork Bancorp (NFB 29.20 +3.80). NFB shares surged, and that deal spurred buying across the regional banking industry. Today's robust M&A front is reflective of what we believe will be a main theme of 2006, and the action supports our bullish view on the investment banking and brokerage industry. Like Healthcare, the Financial sector also finished in flat fashion. Rising interest rates continue to trouble investors, and extended weakness in the Treasury market was an overhang there as well as on the broader market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note recovered somewhat from its session high, yet remained a level not seen since June of 2004. Bond traders lacked much of a catalyst, and technical factors, global interest rate worries, and anticipation ahead of the week's economic data contributed to that market's weakness. In particular, participants (in both markets) await Thursday's CPI report.

Spikes in prices across the energy complex were the second factor that stifled today's advance. Geopolitical tensions continue to support energy prices, which rebounded from oversold levels today. In particular, crude oil gained more than 3% and closed at $61.85 per barrel. Expectations for colder temperatures, and thus higher demand, prompted the price gains. In addition, traders are mindful of the fact that crude oil inventory is near a seven-year high, and that OPEC is pumping at its highest levels in 25 years. The Energy sector benefited, but leadership was limited to its 1.6% gain. Recoveries in metal prices had helped the Materials sector, but a sharp drop in PD, which announced a two-for-one stock split, left the sector unchanged. Upgrades on several steel stocks did little to attract buyers. Industrials was another sector that finished flatly. Boeing (BA 74.84 +0.05) had given it an early boost, but its gain was erased intra-day. As a side note, Barron's featured the company in a positive light, and reiterated the long-term bullish view we continue to hold on the stock.

The Technology sector also spent much of the day on the flat line. Largely to Apple's (AAPL 65.66 +2.47) credit, it managed to rise to a 0.2% gain. The stock enjoyed some renewed buying interest following an upgrade at Citigroup, and after Bear Stearns and Piper Jaffray issued some positive comments. The semiconductor group, however, capped the Tech sector's advance. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 34.03 -2.60) was the sore spot; the stock dropped about 7% following an analyst downgrade. Comments from Deutsche Bank, which suggested that Intel (INTC 19.73 -0.12) will narrow or close its price/performance gap versus rival AMD, added to its troubles. NYSE Adv/Dec 1820/1441...Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1599/1405