End-of-Day Market Summary for October 26, 2011
This is your Benzinga news summary and traders' summary for Wednesday, October 26, 2011, covering headlines from Wednesday's trading session.
Today at market close, the Dow Jones Index traded up about 162.42 points or 1.39%, the S&P 500 traded 1.05% higher, the Nasdaq Composite Index traded up 0.46%, and the U.S. dollar trades flat near the $76.47 level.
Earlier today, Bank of America upgraded Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) to Buy and Citi upgraded Valspar Corp (NYSE: VAL) to Buy. View all of today's upgrades here.
Brean Murray downgraded Human Genome Sciences (NASDAQ: HGSI) to Hold and JP Morgan downgraded DeVrey (NYSE: DV) to Neutral. View all of today's downgrades here.
Overseas, European markets ended their trading session mixed. Britain's FTSE 100 increased by 0.50%, Germany's DAX lost 0.51% and France's CAC 40 declined by 0.15% on the session. Asian stocks ended their session mixed as well. China's Shanghai Index gained 0.77%, Japan's Nikkei 225 declined by 0.16%, and the Hang Seng index increased by 0.52%.
On the economic calendar, the MBA Mortgage Applications number came in at 4.9% versus a -14.9% prior number; the Durable Goods Orders number came in at -0.8% versus a 1% estimate, and the New Home Sales came in at 313K versus an estimate of 300K. On the commodity front, gold and silver futures traded higher today, with gold trading about 1.2% higher today. Energy futures are lower, however, with crude oil down over 2.8% near the $90.50 level and gasoline futures are trading lower by about 1.7%. Natural Gas futures are lower by about 0.25% and copper futures are trading over 2.3% higher.
On the earnings front this morning, Allergan (NYSE: AGN) Reported Q3 EPS $0.92 vs $0.90 Est; Revenues $1.31B vs $1.33B Est; First Solar Reported (NASDAQ: FSLR) Reports Q3 EPS $2.25 vs $2.64 Est; Revenues $1.00B vs $1.01B Est; Harris Corp (NYSE: HRS) Reported Q1 EPS $1.06 vs $1.05 Est; Revenues $1.46B vs $1.46B Est; Akamai Tech (NASDAQ: AKAM) Reported Q3 EPS $0.34 vs $0.33 Est; Revenues $281.9M vs $278.87M Est.
In corporate news, Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) announced that it will be increasing its quarterly dividend payments by 25%. Barrick Gold's dividend has increased by 170% over the last five years.
GreenHunter Energy (NYSE: GRH) announced that it was acquitted on all counts in a lawsuit brought on by Bioversal.The proceedings occurred in the 55th District Court of Harris County, Texas.
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) announced that it will be collaborating with Medco Health Solutions (NYSE: MHS) to conduct precision medicine research. The collaboration aims to synergize both companies' resources to improve clinical disease research.
Today's movers include:
Cheniere Energy (NYSE: LNG) +68.3% after signing $8B deal with BG Group.
Lightbridge Corp (NASDAQ: LTBR) +28.64% after signing multiple contracts.
First Security Group (NASDAQ: FSGI) -22.48% after radical management changes.
Human Genome Sciences (NASDAQ: HGSI) -22.31% on downbeat earnings.
This concludes your news summary for October 26, 2011.
