The following economic data was released during the session:

• Gross Domestic Product Price Index for December A 2012 was released in the US; the series posted a reading of 0.4% falling 2.2 compared to the last data point (2.6%) , which was lower than the consensus estimate of 1.9%.
• Core Personal Consumption Expenditure q/q for December A 2012 was released in the US; the result was 1.1% a decline of 1 compared to the last data point (2.1%) – above expectations of 0.9%.
• Personal Consumption for December A 2012 was released in the US; the result was 2.0% rising 0.3 from the prior reading of 1.7% , which was lower than the market's pre-release guess of 2.4%.
• U. of Michigan Confidence for January F 2012 was released in the US; the outcome was 75.0 rising 1 from the prior reading of 74.0 – above the consensus estimate of 74.0.

Headline Indices

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.17 points (0.58%) to 12,660.46 points. The high print for the session was 12,733.95, which happened less than 15 minutes after the open, and the low of 12,630.87 was touched mid-session.

Total volume traded in the 30 components of the index was 673.16m shares. Decliners outpaced gainers by 6.5 to one, with 26 decliners to 4 advancers. Declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 605.09m to 68.07m shares. The index's rather boring situation arose as a result of a mixed bag of results, the most notable amongst these (in percentage terms) being -

• Chevron (CVX) -2.63 (2.5%) to $103.96 on volume of 10.53m shares;
• Citigroup (C) +0.49 (1.6%) to $30.87 on volume of 37.49m shares;
• General Motors (GM) -0.35 (1.4%) to $24.37 on volume of 14.73m shares;
• Exxon-Mobil (XOM) -0.94 (1.1%) to $85.83 on volume of 15.84m shares; and
• Boeing (BA) -0.76 (1%) to $74.55 on volume of 4.75m shares.

The S&P500 Index dropped 2.11 points (0.16%) to 1316.32 points..

Total volume traded in the 500 components of the index was 2.71bn shares. Decliners outpaced gainers by 1 to one, with 223 decliners to 222 advancers. Declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 1.53bn to 1.14bn shares. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -

• Robert Half International (RHI) -2.01 (6.8%) to $27.75 on volume of 4.46m shares;
• Federated Investors Inc. (FII) -1.11 (5.9%) to $17.6 on volume of 3.65m shares;
• Legg Mason (LM) -1.3 (4.8%) to $26.02 on volume of 4.99m shares;
• JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSU) -0.63 (4.7%) to $12.84 on volume of 10.51m shares; and
• Chubb Corp. (CB) -2.93 (4.2%) to $67.42 on volume of 5.07m shares.

The Nasdaq Composite rose +11.27 points (0.4%) to 2816.55 points. while the Nasdaq100 advanced +7.14 points (0.29%) to 2461.77 points..

Total volume traded in the 100 components of the index was 613.39m shares. Advancers outpaced decliners by 1.3 to one, with 50 advancers to 40 decliners; however declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 340.5m to 272.89m shares. The biggest gainers (percentage-wise) were -

• Baidu.com (BIDU) +7.46 (6%) to $131.36 on volume of 8.54m shares;
• Logitech International (LOGI) +0.4 (5.6%) to $7.6 on volume of 1.14m shares;
• KLA-Tencor (KLAC) +2.07 (4.1%) to $52.33 on volume of 6.83m shares;
• Research in Motion (RIMM) +0.54 (3.3%) to $16.8 on volume of 20.3m shares; and
• NII Holdings (NIHD) +0.51 (2.6%) to $20.43 on volume of 4.46m shares.

Volatility

The CBOE Volatility Index slid 0.04 points (0.22%) to 18.53 points. and the CBOE Nasdaq100 Volatility Index dipped 0.25 points (1.28%) to 19.31 points..

Breadth and Internals

A total of 3164 issues traded today on the NYSE; today's total volume was 3.85bn shares. A total of 1980 stocks posted gains for the day, and volume in advancing issues totalled 1.95bn shares. Exerting downwards pressure on the index were 1073 losers, which accounted for a total declining volume of 1.82bn shares. 177 stocks made new 1-year highs on the NYSE, while 8 shares plumbed new 52-week depths.

On the Nasdaq 2593 tickers traded today; total Nasdaq volume was 1.7bn shares. A total of 1599 stocks posted gains for the day, with aggregate volume of 0.94bn shares changing hands in the day's winners. The red zone of the Nasdaq exchange comprised 869 losers, and total declining volume was 0.74bn shares. 69 Nasdaq-listed stocks hit new 52-week highs, while 12 shares dipped to new 1-year lows.

Dow Darlings

• Alcoa (AA) +0.07 (0.7%) to $10.43 on volume of 21.5m units
• United Technologies (UTX) +0.21 (0.3%) to $77.62 on volume of 4.1m units

Dow Duds:

• Chevron (CVX) -2.63 (2.5%) to $103.96 on volume of 10.5m units
• Exxon-Mobil (XOM) -0.94 (1.1%) to $85.83 on volume of 15.8m units
• Boeing (BA) -0.76 (1%) to $74.55 on volume of 4.8m units
• AT&T (T) -0.29 (1%) to $29.16 on volume of 36.3m units
• Microsoft (MSFT) -0.27 (0.9%) to $29.23 on volume of 44m units

Most Traded Dow stocks:

• Bank Of America (BAC)-0.01 (0.1%) to $7.29 on volume of 229.2m units
• Microsoft (MSFT)-0.27 (0.9%) to $29.23 on volume of 44m units
• AT&T (T)-0.29 (1%) to $29.16 on volume of 36.3m units
• Intel (INTC)-0.02 (0.1%) to $26.73 on volume of 35.3m units
• General Electric (GE)-0.04 (0.2%) to $19.03 on volume of 32.5m units

Precious Metals

Precious metals futures performed as follows -

The Gold Bugs index (XAU) gained 2.75 points (1.38%) to 202.68 points. Total volume traded in the 16 components of the index was 75.89m shares. Advancers outpaced decliners by 15 to one, with 15 advancers to 1 decliners. Advancing volume exceeded declining volume by 60.46m to 15.43m shares. The biggest gainers (percentage-wise) were -

• Silver Stand Resources (SSRI) +0.85 (5.1%) to $17.68 on volume of 1.19m shares;
• Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) +1.5 (4%) to $39.29 on volume of 2.02m shares;
• Silver Wheaton (SLW) +1.08 (3.1%) to $35.7 on volume of 6.04m shares;
• Coeur d'Alene (CDE) +0.86 (3.1%) to $28.97 on volume of 1.28m shares; and
• Harmony Gold (HMY) +0.35 (3%) to $12.17 on volume of 2.11m shares.

Energy Complex

Energy futures performed as follows -

The Oil Services index (OSX) added 2.99 points (1.26%) to 239.65 points. Total volume traded in the 15 components of the index was 84.51m shares. Advancers outpaced decliners by 11 to one, with 11 advancers to 1 decliners. Advancing volume exceeded declining volume by 84.04m to 0.48m shares. The biggest gainers (percentage-wise) were -

• Oceaneering International (OII) +1.44 (3.1%) to $48.54 on volume of 0.75m shares;
• Halliburton (HAL) +0.94 (2.6%) to $37.1 on volume of 24.47m shares;
• Nabors Industries (NBR) +0.45 (2.6%) to $17.93 on volume of 8.24m shares;
• Baker Hughes (BHI) +1.21 (2.5%) to $49.31 on volume of 7.05m shares; and
• National Oilwell Varco (NOV) +1.41 (1.9%) to $77.4 on volume of 3.24m shares.

Currency Futures

Currency futures performed as follows -

Bellwethers

The nine-stock group that makes up the Rant bellwethers advanced on average by 0.2%. The fallout occurred as follows:

• General Electric (GE) -0.04 (0.21%) to $19.03 on volume of 32.47m units.
• Citigroup (C) +0.49 (1.61%) to $30.87 on volume of 37.49m units.
• Wal-Mart (WMT) -0.26 (0.43%) to $60.71 on volume of 6.28m units.
• IBM (IBM) -0.52 (0.27%) to $190.46 on volume of 3.35m units.
• Intel (INTC) -0.02 (0.07%) to $26.73 on volume of 35.32m units.
• Cisco Systems (CSCO) -0.27 (1.36%) to $19.56 on volume of 43.45m units.
• Google (GOOG) +11.88 (2.09%) to $579.98 on volume of 3.6m units.
• Fannie Mae (FNM) -0 (0%) to $0.00 on volume of 0m units.
• Freddie Mac (FRE) -0 (0%) to $0.00 on volume of 0m units.

Other Indices of Interest…

The Banks index (BKX) advanced 0.31 points (0.73%) to 42.87 points. Total volume traded in the 24 components of the index was 445.17m shares. Advancers outpaced decliners by 4.3 to one, with 17 advancers to 4 decliners; however declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 261.11m to 184.06m shares. The biggest gainers (percentage-wise) were -

• Regions Financial (RF) +0.14 (2.7%) to $5.31 on volume of 18.75m shares;
• Wells Fargo (WFC) +0.55 (1.9%) to $29.6 on volume of 30.84m shares;
• Zions Bancorp (ZION) +0.31 (1.9%) to $16.89 on volume of 3.1m shares;
• Keycorp (KEY) +0.13 (1.6%) to $8.01 on volume of 19.18m shares; and
• Citigroup Inc (C) +0.49 (1.6%) to $30.87 on volume of 37.49m shares.

The Semiconductor index (SOX) added 1.4 points (0.34%) to 413.34 points. Total volume traded in the 18 components of the index was 187.2m shares. Advancers outpaced decliners by 1.7 to one, with 10 advancers to 6 decliners; however declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 106.44m to 80.76m shares. The biggest gainers (percentage-wise) were -

• KLA-Tencor Cp (KLAC) +2.07 (4.1%) to $52.33 on volume of 6.83m shares;
• Teradyne (TER) +0.54 (3.3%) to $16.95 on volume of 6.3m shares;
• ST Microelectronic (STM) +0.15 (2.2%) to $7.09 on volume of 1.34m shares;
• Novellus Systems (NVLS) +0.87 (1.9%) to $47.67 on volume of 2.8m shares; and
• Texas Instruments (TXN) +0.42 (1.3%) to $32.61 on volume of 8.42m shares.

The ChildKiller ("Defence") index (DFX) lost 1.22 points (0.32%) to 375.7 points. Total volume traded in the 17 components of the index was 53.07m shares. Decliners outpaced gainers by 2.2 to one, with 11 decliners to 5 advancers. Declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 47.6m to 5.47m shares. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -

• Raytheon (RTN) -1.25 (2.5%) to $48.64 on volume of 2.46m shares;
• General Dynamics (GD) -1.16 (1.6%) to $70.35 on volume of 1.4m shares;
• Teledyne Tech (TDY) -0.78 (1.4%) to $55.4 on volume of 0.19m shares;
• Embraer Empresa (ERJ) -0.29 (1%) to $27.44 on volume of 0.93m shares; and
• Northrop Grummanl (NOC) -0.61 (1%) to $58.71 on volume of 1.43m shares.