End-of-Day Market Summary for January 20, 2012

This is your Benzinga news summary for Friday, January 20, 2012, covering headlines from Friday's daytime trading session. Today at market close, the Dow Jones Index traded up about 96.42 points or 0.76%, the S&P 500 traded 0.07% higher, the Nasdaq Composite Index traded down 0.06%, and the U.S. dollar trades slightly lower near the $80.30 level. Earlier today, Miller Taback upgraded HSBC HBC to Sell and Global Hunter upgraded Berry Petroleum BRY to Accumulate. Sterne Agee downgraded Whiting Petroleum WLL to Neutral and Axiom downgraded J ASolar JASO to Sell. Overseas, European markets ended their trading session lower. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.22%, Germany's DAX decreased by 0.18% and France's CAC 40 tumbled by 0.22% on the session. Asian stocks ended their session higher. China's Shanghai Index rallied by 11.03%, Japan's Nikkei 225 increased by 1.47%, and the Hang Seng index gained 0.84%. On the economic calendar, Existing Home Sales came in at 4.61M versus an estimate of 4.65M. On the commodity front, gold and silver futures traded higher today, with gold trading about 0.1% higher today. Energy futures are mixed, with crude oil down over 2% near the $98.50 level and gasoline futures are trading lower by about 1%. Natural Gas futures are higher by about 1% and copper futures are trading over 0.1% higher. Today's afternoon earnings announcements included no notable companies. In corporate news, Quest Diagnostics DGX announced that the FDA has granted a petition to further test a drug for Multiple Sclerosis. Legacy Reserves LGCY announced that it will increased cash distribution to $0.55 per share. Deutsche Bank published a report on Office Depot ODP, stating that the company's restructuring plan is appropriate. Today's Movers include:

AsiaInfo-Linkage ASIA +18.8% after receiving proposal to go private

FelCor Lodging Trust FCH +16.8% on low volume

Sears SHLD +13% on privatization speculation

Cogent Communications CCOI -18.7% after Megaupload, a large customer, was shut down

VOC Energy Trust VOC -11.7% on analyst downgrades, despite announcing quarterly dividend

Achillion Pharmaceuticals ACHN -10.7% on intermittent volume

This concludes your news summary for January 20, 2012.