Financial Breakfast: Morning News Summary for September 28, 2011
This is your Benzinga news summary and traders' outlook for Wednesday, September 28, 2011, covering headlines from overnight and Wednesday's pre-market session.
Today in domestic pre-market trading, U.S equity futures are trading higher. At last check, Dow futures are higher by about 80 points or 0.7% and the U.S. dollar trades slightly lower near the $77.95 level.
Earlier this morning, Citigroup upgraded Auxilium Pharma (NASDAQ: AUXL) to Buy and JP Morgan upgraded MeadWestvaco (NYSE: MWV) to Overweight. View all of today's upgrades here.
Citigroup downgraded Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) to Hold and downgraded Mead Johnson (NYSE: MJN) to Hold. View all of today's downgrades here.
Citigroup lowered Philip Morris' (NYSE: PM) price target to $68 from $73 and Piper Jaffray lowered Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS) price target to $37 from $42. View all other of today's analyst ratings here.
Overseas, European markets are higher in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.03%, Germany's DAX added 0.54% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.4% on the session. Asian stocks ended the session mixed. China's Shanghai Index lost 0.94%, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.07%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 0.66%.
On the economic calendar, MBA Mortgages Applications came in at 9.3% from a 0.6% prior reading. Durable and Capital Goods Orders are set to be reported at 8:30 a.m.
On the commodity front, gold and silver futures are lower in pre-market trading, with gold trading lower by about 0.05%. Energy futures are also lower with crude oil down about 0.4% near the $84.05 level and gasoline futures are trading lower by about 0.35%. Natural Gas futures are trading slightly higher and copper futures are trading about 2% lower this morning.
On the earnings front, Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO) reported Q4 EPS of $0.66 on revenues of $2.13 billion; The Street was looking for $0.63 per share on revenues of $2.12 billion.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) reported Q1 EPS of $0.78 on revenues of $1.94 billion; The Street was looking for $0.78 per share on revenues of $1.93 billion.
In corporate news, Kodiak Oil & Gas (NYSE: KOG) announced that it has entered into a definitive purchase and sale agreement to acquire additional producing properties and undeveloped leasehold in the Williston Basin. The purchase price for the asset package, which will be paid in cash, is approximately $235 million.
Family Dollar announced has added an additional $250 million to its buyback program.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is expected to unveil its new tablet computer later today. Rumors have been circulating saying that the new tablet will have a colored screen, 7-inch display, and an attractive price.
This concludes your news summary for September 28, 2011.
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