End-of-Day Market Summary for November 29, 2011

This is your Benzinga news summary and traders' summary for Tuesday, November 29, 2011, covering headlines from Tuesday's trading session.

Today at market close, the Dow Jones Index traded up about 32.62 points or 0.28%, the S&P 500 traded 0.22% higher, the Nasdaq Composite Index traded down 0.47%, and the U.S. dollar trades slightly lower near the $79.10 level.

Earlier today, Jefferies upgraded United Natural Foods (NASDAQ: UNFI) to Buy and Oppenheimer upgraded Ariba (NASDAQ: ARBA) to Outperform. View all of today's upgrades here.

Citi downgraded AMR Corp (NYSE: AMR) to Sell and Bank of America downgraded National Financial Partners (NYSE: NFP) to Underperform. View all of today's downgrades here.

Overseas, European markets ended their trading session higher. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.46%, Germany's DAX increased by 0.95% and France's CAC 40 rallied by 0.46% on the session. Asian stocks ended their session higher, as well. China's Shanghai Index gained 1.26%, Japan's Nikkei 225 increased by 2.3%, and the Hang Seng index rallied by 1.21%.

On the economic calendar, September US S&P / Case-Shiller - 20 YoY (3.59%) vs (3.00%) Est; November US Consumer Confidence 56.0 vs 44.0 Est. On the commodity front, gold and silver futures traded higher today, with gold trading about 0.08% higher today. Energy futures are mixed, with crude oil up over 1.5% near the $99.75 level and gasoline futures are trading higher by about 0.8%. Natural Gas futures are lower by about 2.9% and copper futures are trading over 0.5% higher.

There were no major earnings this afternoon.

In corporate news, Ark Restaurants (NASDAQ: ARKR) announced that it will repurchase 250,000 common shares by 2012. The company is testing its therapy for Lou Gherig's Disease.

Trans World Entertainment (NASDAQ: TWMC) announced that Tom Seaver will take over as Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately.

Einstein Noah Restaurant Group (NASDAQ: BAGL) announced that it will be acquiring the Kettleman Bagel Company. Terms of the transaction were undisclosed.

Today's movers include:

Inhibitex (NASDAQ: INHX) +18.9% after announcing positive clinical trial data for one of its Hepatatis C medications

Noah Holdings (NYSE: NOAH) +16.3% after Blum Capital Partners purchased 10,000 shares

WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) +11.27% on rumors that it is exploring a possible sale

AMR Corp (NYSE: AMR) -79.5% after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

Radian Group (NYSE: RDN) -13.8% after having trouble gaining regulatory approval in some states to sell insurance

AVANIR Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AVNR) -11.8% on heavy volume

This concludes your news summary for November 29, 2011