The markets were higher yet again today as the banks supported. The Dow 30 added 15, the S&P 500 gained 5, and the Nasdaq 100 added 26 ahead of some key earnings announcements. Going forward the focus will be on Nasdaq names that are reporting such as Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), along with the beginning of the Republican National convention.
The media attention today was surrounded by the news that ARM Holdings (NASDAQ: ARMH) was being squired by Softbank (OTC: SFTBY) for approximately $31.4 billion. This represents a 43.0% premium over Friday's closing price.Shares of ARM shot up over 40% today on the news.
The financial sector traded slightly higher today supporting the broader market. (+0.32%) The strength comes due to positive quarterly results from Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) helped support the sector. The company reported a bottom-line beat ahead of the open and also announced that its sales and trading revenue grew 12.0% year-over-year. Looking ahead we have Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) reporting their quarterly reports later in the week.
Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST) suffered a 3.75% decline today as the stock was downgraded to "Market Perform" from "Outperform" at Wells Fargo. Investors pushed the beverage maker to monthly lows on heavier than average volume on the news, but shares did close well off their lows of the session.
Merck (NYSE: MRK) had a decline of 1.02% today after being downgraded to "Market Perform" from "Outperform" at BMO Capital. Investors didn't seem to anxious though as shares are still near yearly highs and volume was lower than average.
Transportation stock, JB Hunt (NASDAQ: JBHT) lost 4.69% after missing bottom-line expectations for the quarter and lowering its revenue and operating income guidance for the full year. Shares saw weakness all day long and closed right at the lows of the session on that news.