End-of-Day Market Summary for December 5, 2011
This is your Benzinga news summary and traders' summary for Monday, December 5, 2011, covering headlines from Monday's trading session.
Today at market close, the Dow Jones Index traded up about 78.41 points or 0.65%, the S&P 500 traded 1.03% higher, the Nasdaq Composite Index traded up 1.10%, and the U.S. dollar trades slightly lower near the $78.65 level.
Earlier today, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) to Buy and Morgan Keegan upgraded Boardwalk (NYSE: BWP) to Outperform. View all of today's upgrades here.
Citi downgraded SuccessFactors (NYSE: SFSF) to Neutral and Feltl & Co downgraded Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) to Sell. View all of today's downgrades here.
Overseas, European markets ended their trading session higher. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.28%, Germany's DAX increased by 0.42% and France's CAC 40 rallied by 1.15% on the session. Asian stocks ended their session mixed, however. China's Shanghai Index lost 1.16%, Japan's Nikkei 225 increased by 0.6%, and the Hang Seng index rallied by 0.73%.
On the economic calendar, ISM Non-Manufacturing Composite numbers came in at 52 versus an estimate of 53.8; Factory Orders came in at -0.4% versus an estimate of -0.3%. On the commodity front, gold and silver futures traded lower today, with gold trading about 0.4% lower today. Energy futures are lower, with crude oil down over 0.1% near the $100.90 level and gasoline futures are trading lower by about 0.25%. Natural Gas futures are lower by about 3.5% and copper futures are trading over 1.7% lower.
On the earnings front this afternoon, Moduslink (NASDAQ: MLNK) Reports Q1 EPS $0.04 vs $(0.06) Prior; Revenue $206.15M vs $225.21M Prior; Dollar General (NYSE: DG) Reports Q3 EPS $0.50 vs $0.47 Est; Revenues $3.60B vs $3.57B Est; Hi-Tech Pharmacal (NASDAQ: HITK) Reports Q2 EPS $1.04 vs $0.77 Est; Revenues $56.9M vs $51.4M Est.
In corporate news, SAP (NYSE: SAP) announced that it will be acquiring SuccessFactors (NYSE: SFSF) for $40 per share.
LEAP Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) announced that it has signed contracts regarding wireless technology, valued at $204 million and $188 million.
Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) announced that Kristen Onken will be appointed to its Board of Directors. She will also serve on the Board's Audit Committee.
Today's movers include:
SuccessFactors (NYSE: SFSF) +51.2% after announcement that it will be acquired by SAP (NYSE: SAP)
Taleo Corp (NASDAQ: TLEO) +21.4% on heavy volume
Ariba (NASDAQ: ARBA) +14.1% after a series of upgrades by investment banks
Hi-Tech Pharmacal (NYSE: AMR) -9.3% despite positive Q2 earnings news
Spreadtrum Communications (NASDAQ: SPRD) -7.9% on heavy volume
Elster Group (NYSE: ELT) -8.7% despite positive performance in tech sector
This concludes your news summary for December 5, 2011
