3:30PM : Holding steady at modestly higher levels as buyers remain in control of late-day action... Meanwhile, market breadth has recently turned slightly positive in the wake of the market's recovery... However, while the rebound has clearly improved sentiment heading into more earnings reports, the sustainability of today's bounce will arguably depend on a couple of factors - whether or not earnings and ensuing guidance check in better than expected and whether or not oil prices and bond yields can continue to trade near low levels... NYSE Adv/Dec 1939/1316, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1613/1424
3:00PM : Market continues to put together a solid advance as the market averages extend their reach into positive territory... Providing the largest lift to the indices has been a widespread recovery in interest-rate sensitive areas like Financial (+1.2%), Utility (+1.0%) and Homebuilding (+2.1%), as yields on the 10-year note (4.35%) have stabilized at levels not seen in more than a month...
Also erasing a day's worth of weakness have been Technology, Health Care, Industrials and Consumer Staples while Energy (-1.1%) - as oil prices lost more than 3.0% to close below $52/bbl - and Materials (-0.1%) have been the only two economic sectors failing to turn positive... NYSE Adv/Dec 1529/1699, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1422/1587
2:30PM : Major indices reverse course in noticeable fashion as the reading of the March FOMC Minutes suggests the Fed is of the belief that an accelerated pace of policy tightening (i.e. 50 bp) does not appear necessary at this time... With participants fearful ahead of the release that the Minutes would reveal more hawkish inflation commentary, the recognition that the commentary was pretty much in line with what participants already knew has encouraged the rebound effort...
Aiding in the advance has been the improvement in the Treasury market where the 10-yr note is now up 19 ticks and its yield down to 4.35%... On a related note, PIMCO's Bill Gross has been quoted as saying "a 50 basis point rate hike is out of the question."...NYSE Adv/Dec 1172/2065, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1093/1915