MarketView for July 30

Summary

The major equity indexes ended the day virtually unchanged on Monday as investors paused following the best two-day run this year, with the Fed beginning a two day meeting on Tuesday and a number of statistics on the economy set to be released this week. Furthermore, the Street is betting that the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank will suggest further action to stimulate their economies is on the way when each meets later this week.

The sectors least sensitive to economic growth - telecoms, consumer staples and utilities - posted healthy gains, suggesting a cautious move to defensive plays. Blue chips like Wal-Mart and AT&T hit new 52-week highs. Wal-Mart ended the day up 0.6 percent to close at $74.98 after hitting $75.24 earlier. AT&T added 0.8 percent to close at $37.43 after hitting $37.69. The Nasdaq Composite underperformed the other major indexes, weighed down by a 5.9 percent drop in shares of Citrix Systems and a 1 percent decline in Intel.

Last week, a strong statement from ECB President Mario Draghi drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 13,000 for the first time since early May, and gave the S&P 500 its largest two-day boost since December.

The Fed begins a two-day meeting on Tuesday while the ECB will meet on Thursday. The economic calendar is heavy this week, including Friday's payrolls report for July. About 5.5 billion shares changed hands on the three major equity exchanges, an number that was about 18.5 percent below the year-to-date daily average of 6.75 billion shares through last Friday.

Apple rose 1.7 percent to $595.03. Jury selection began on Monday in a high-stakes patent battle between Apple and Samsung Electronics, the culmination of over a year of pre-trial jousting with billions of dollars in the balance.

According to Thomson Reuters data, of the 294 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported second-quarter earnings to date, 67 percent have posted earnings above analysts' expectations. Over the past four quarters, the average is a 68 percent beat rate.

Shaw Group was up by 55.5 percent to $41.49 after the engineering company agreed to be acquired by Chicago Bridge & Iron for about $3 billion in cash and stock.

Progenics Pharmaceuticals fell 50.1 percent to $5.39 and Salix Pharmaceuticals was down 13 percent to $46.25 after the FDA declined to approve wider use of one of their drugs and asked for more data.