The Dow briefly fell into negative year-to-date territory earlier, as the dollar gains ground
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) briefly slipped into negative year-to-date territory earlier, and is on track to snap its five-week winning streak, with bank stocks -- including Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) -- trading in the red. A rising U.S. dollar is having a ripple effect across the market, with stocks, oil prices, and gold futures all lower at midday.
Specifically, the dollar is gaining ground against a basket of other major currencies for a fifth straight session, as support for a near-term interest-rate hike gains traction among regional Fed officials. Elsewhere, May-dated crude futures are down 2.3% at $38.89 per barrel, while April-dated gold futures are off 0.2% at $1,221.30 per ounce.
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Among today's stocks with unusual put volume is
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), with the contracts crossing at two times the average intraday pace. Shares of the electric car concern have swung 1.2% higher to $225.41 -- after
an initial analyst-induced turn lower -- and eleventh-hour speculators are honing in on TSLA's weekly 3/24 series. Most active is the 215-strike put, which appears to be seeing a mix of buy- and sell-to-open activity.
Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) is one of the biggest gainers on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today, up 8.2% at $10.69. While shares of the streaming service are rallying on
M&A buzz, the surge is running out of steam near P's 80-day moving average -- a trendline that has been working against the stock since a
late-October bear gap.
Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) is one of the biggest decliners on the NYSE, down 5.9% at $1.20 -- and fresh off a 14-year low of $1.15. It's been
a rough road for the alternative energy stock, and today's losses come courtesy of recent reports that the company is attempting to secure debtor-in-possession financing.
The
CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 0.5 point, or 3.4%, at 15.45.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 2.13, with puts more than doubling calls. SPY is down 0.5% at $202.28.