Solar Flare Sparks Markets — Tuesday’s IP Market Recap

by Marc Bastow | June 12, 2012 5:24 pm

[1]Solar stocks paved the way to a strong market day Tuesday after a First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR[2]) deal sparked the industry.

First Solar landed a project for Australia’s Solar Flagships Program to design, to construct and maintain two utility-scale solar photovoltaic power projects totaling 159 megawatts AC for AGL Energy Limited. FSLR jumped more than 21% on the news and had the rest of the sector booming. Other solar names headed higher were LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK[3], +17%), SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR[4], +8.8%) and Trina Solar (NYSE:TSL[5], +8.3%).

U.S. stock markets shook off worries about the European banking system, sending the indices to a sigh-of-relief rally to more than 1% across the board. The Dow Jones finished up 1.3% to 12,573, the Nasdaq gained 1.22% to end at 2,843, and the S&P 500 ended ahead 1.2% at 1,324.

Europe continues to be a background worry, however, with yields on 10-year Spanish bonds hitting a euro-era high of 6.8%, and Italian bond yields also above the 6% benchmark — a warning sign that the country could need a bailout of its own. Adding to pressures on Spain’s banking system, Fitch Ratings downgraded 18 Spanish banks.

However, U.S. banking stocks showed plenty of strength Tuesday, as Citigroup (NYSE:C[6]) rebounded nicely from Monday’s losses with a 4.3% gain, and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM[7]) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC[8]) each finished up nearly 3%.

Shares of high-end retailer Michael Kors (NYSE:KORS[9]) shot up more than 7% after the fashion retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter sales[10] that more than doubled from last year’s results. The report easily topped forecasts as well as the company’s earlier guidance.

Performance retailer Under Armour (NYSE:UA[11]) also continued its recent rise[12], finishing the day up more than 3% as BofA raised its price target to (a pre-split) $120 per share.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR[13]) shares gained about 1% after the company announced a $1 billion share repurchase plan[14] late Monday. Storage hardware maker Fusion-io (NYSE:FIO[15]) gained more than 5% Tuesday and helped Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO[16]) break out of a long funk with its own 2% move on news of a new contract[17]. FIO’s memory systems will be used in Cisco’s B-series blade servers.

On the other end of the spectrum, shares of Internet game stock Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA[18]) continued their 60% slide since March[19], touching all-time intraday lows of $4.78 before finishing the day around 10% to $4.97.

Three Up

• Arena Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:ARNA[20]): Up 11.5% (81 cents) to $7.88.
• Cheniere Energy (AMEX:LNG[21]): Up 9.2% ($1.09) to $12.95.
• Terex (NYSE:TEX[22]): Up 6.3% ($1.03) to $17.30.

Three Down:

• St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ[23]): Down 6% ($2.30) to $36.24.
• Navistar (NYSE:NAV[24]): Down 5.5% ($1.59) to $27.15.
• Harman International (NYSE:HAR[25]): Down 3.9% ($1.47) to $36.53.

Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/06/tuesdays-ip-market-recap-fslr-jpm-bac-c-kors-ua-fio/

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