End-of-Day Market Summary for December 13, 2011
This is your Benzinga news summary and traders' summary for Tuesday, December 13, 2011, covering headlines from Tuesday's trading session.
Today at market close, the Dow Jones Index traded down about 66.45 points or 0.55%, the S&P 500 traded 0.87% lower, the Nasdaq Composite Index traded down 1.26%, and the U.S. dollar trades slightly higher near the $80.99 level.
Earlier today, Credit Suisse upgraded Walter Investment Management (NYSE: WAC) to Outperform and Morgan Stanley upgraded Robert Half (NYSE: RHI) to Overweight. View all of today's upgrades here.
JP Morgan downgraded Comtech Telecommunications (NASDAQ: CMTL) to Neutral and Citi downgraded Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) to Neutral. View all of today's downgrades here.
Overseas, European markets ended their trading session mixed. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 1.15%, Germany's DAX decreased by 0.19% and France's CAC 40 slid by 0.35% on the session. Asian stocks ended their session lower. China's Shanghai Index lost 1.9%, Japan's Nikkei 225 decreased by 1.17%, and the Hang Seng index lost 0.69%.
On the economic calendar, November Advance Retail Sales 0.2% vs 0.6% Est; November Retail Sales Less Autos 0.2% vs 0.4% Est; November Retail Sales Ex Auto & Gas 0.2% vs 0.4% Est; December IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism 42.8 vs 42.3 Est; October Business Inventories 0.8% vs 0.8% Est; FOMC Rate Decision 0.25% vs 0.25% Est. On the commodity front, gold and silver futures traded lower today, with gold trading about 1.75% lower today. Energy futures are higher, with crude oil up over 2.2% near the $90.95 level and gasoline futures are trading higher by about 2.2%. Natural Gas futures are higher by about 0.7% and copper futures are trading over 1.35% lower.
On the earnings front this afternoon, Learning Tree International Reports Q4 EPS $0.12 vs $0.17 Est; Revenues $34.30M vs $35.07M Est; FormFactor Reports Q3 EPS $(0.20) vs $(0.17) Est; Revenues $52.1M vs $50.73M Est.
In corporate news, American Woodmark (NASDAQ: AMWD) announced that it will reduce headcount and pursue other options to save money.
Owens-Illinois (NYSE: OI) announced that Tony Gardner will be the new Chief Commercial Officer and senior vice president, effective immediately.
BioMed Realty Trust (NYSE: BMR) announced that it will acquire an 80% stake in Rogers Street Properties for $308 million.
Today's movers include:
Seaspan Corp (NYSE: SSW) +16.2% after announcing that it will buy out Seaspan Management Services in an all-stock transaction
Cabot Microelectronics Corp (NASDAQ: CCMP) +15% after ramping up its stock repurchase program and issuing a special dividend of $15 per share
GeoEye (NASDAQ: GEOY) +10.5% on heavy volume
Endocyte (NASDAQ: ECYT) -66.1% after trials of its ovarian cancer drug were inconclusive
Ivanhoe Mines (NYSE: IVN) -22.9% after losing legal hearings to Rio Tinto
K12 Inc (NYSE: LRN) -23.9% after disappointing performance in the Delaware Market
This concludes your news summary for December 13, 2011
