Market Wrap: ECB Could Take Different Stimulus Approach; Apple's Record iPhone 5 Sales; Large Holder to Exit Clearwire


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September 17, 2012 5:14 PM EDT Send to a Friend
Market wrap-up for September 17th

End of the Day: S&P 500 down 4.6 to 1,461.19; Dow Jones down 40.3 to 13,553.10; Nasdaq down 8.5 to 3,178.67

The following is a brief summary of events moving markets today:
  • Open market buying from the ECB? Not likely..: Markets hit a little bit of a hiccup Monday afternoon following comments from Belgian central bank head and European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Luc Coene, who said outright purchases of bonds in the open market was "highly unlikely."

    Coene said the ECB could cut its main interest rate, place its deposit rate into negative territory, and offer more near-zero funding for banks as options to outright purchases.

    Comments were made at a European Economics and Financial Centre seminar on Monday.

  • That's about 23 per second: Apple, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) neared the notable $700 level today following strong sales numbers for its iPhone 5 in the first 24 hours the device was on sale. According to Apple, about 2 million pre-orders were placed for the device, twice as many as were placed for the outgoing iPhone 4S in its first 24 hours of availability.

    Apple also said that, while most are expected to be delivered on September 21st, there are some pre-orders which won't make it to consumers until October.

  • No orders = no manufacturing: The Empire Manufacturing reading for September came in at negative 10.4, wider than a negative 5.9 reported for August and much lower than market expectations calling for a drop of 3 points. This marks its second consecutive negative reading and was below economist expectations of just a 2 point drop.

    For more color on the data, click here.

  • Large holder to dispose of Clearwire stake: Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) disclosed plans to sell its 7.8 percent stake in mobile broadband provider Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR). Disclosure was made in an SEC filing last Friday.

    Time Warner notified other major investors in Clearwire of the sale, giving them a chance to exercise an option for part or all of the stake. Shares of Clearwire are down about 80 percent over the last two years.

    The move sent Clearwire shares about 5 percent lower Monday, with shares even lower in late trading. Click here for more on sales.

  • Fat finger revisited: Crude slipped Monday afternoon, dropping as much as $3 per barrel in less than a minute as volume spiked. The action caused a little uncertainty across markets, given that no clear explanation was made. For more color on the move, click here.

  • Pure Ballmer: Ahead of its Windows 8 launch in October, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer alluded to possible pricing for its upcoming Surface tablet line. Ballmer said the range could be from $300 up to $700 or $800, depending on the model chosen.

    The Surface is Microsoft's first foray into the PC market, having focused mainly on software up to this point. But, the success of Apple's iPad can no longer be ignored, not even by Microsoft.

    Comments from Ballmer were made in a Seattle Times interview released over the weekend. For more color, click here.
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