Ao minuto: Praças europeias respiram de alívio, indiferentes a possível violação de cessar-fogo

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A rumor mill that was running in overdrive with talk ranging from a Smith Barney sell order in S&P futures contracts, to a (possible) lowering of the terror alert level from Yellow (Elevated) tonight, squashed the stock market's advance today... Indeed, the market spent all of the morning and most of the afternoon firmly in positive territory, anchored by a slew of encouraging Q2 (June) earnings reports and a bullish data point for the labor market... Initial claims for the week of July 19 fell 29K, to 386K (consensus of 415K), and ended a 22-week losing streak of claims above the 400K mark, a level indicative with payroll declines... As for today's earnings reports, most of them checked in above consensus estimates and were consistent with this reporting season's track record of exceeding Wall Street expectations (see Briefing.com's Stock Brief)... Computer Associates (CA 25.15 +2.91), Symantec (SYMC 46.89 +4.29), and Veritas Software (VRTS 30.28 +2.37) were among the plethora of names that topped Reuters Research estimates and also raised guidance... Consequently, the market rallied at the open under the influential leadership of the technology sector... Homebuilding, internet, auto, and casino shares also exhibited noteworthy strength, although their momentum was undercut by some selling activity in biotech stemming from Biogen's (BGEN 38.55 -2.63) announcement that its Phase III induction trial of Antegren, a drug for Crohn's Disease, did not meet the primary endpoint... Nonetheless, the market still put together a respectable move higher, with the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 showing gains of 87, 22, and 10 points, respectively, at their peaks... All of that changed, however, when the aforementioned rumors hit the trading room floors around 14:15 ET, and incited a broad-based selling drive... A Drudge Report of a plane flying directly over President Bush's motorcade in Philadelphia also contributed to the profit-taking activity... The indices quickly fell through a series of key support levels, and their technical deterioration kept the selling interest steady through the close - where the market finished at its lows of the day...