Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Mixed as JC Penney Rises - Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.02 percent to 15,573.87 while the NASDAQ declined 0.14 percent to 3,937.98. The S&P rose, gaining 0.15 percent to 1,762.30.

Top Headline

Merck & Co

MRK

reported an

upbeat third-quarter

profit.

Merck's quarterly profit declined to $1.12 billion, or $0.38 per share, down from $1.73 billion, or $0.56 per share, in the year-earlier quarter. Its adjusted earnings fell to $0.92 per share from $0.95 per share.

Its sales dropped to $11.03 billion from $11.49 billion. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.87 per share on revenue of $11.1 billion. Merck now expects 2013 adjusted earnings of $3.48 to $3.52 per share, versus its earlier forecast of $3.45 to $3.55 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

BMY

shot up 6.64 percent to $52.00 after the company presented

efficacy and safety data

from Phase IIb dose-ranging study of subcutaneous clazakizumab. Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from Equal-Weight to Overweight and lifted the target price from $45 to $60.

Shares of Burger King Worldwide BKW got a boost, shooting up 5.67 percent to $20.88 after the company reported a rise in its third-quarter profit.

J.C. Penney JCP was also up, gaining 8.23 percent to $7.34 after a Reuters report stated that JCPenney maintains its trends are improving and that the company still expects same store sales growth this quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Sohu.com

SOHU

were down 15.82 percent to $68.54 after the company reported a

20% drop

in its quarterly profit.

Changyou.com CYOU shares tumbled 18.76 percent to $29.01 after the company reported Q3 unaudited financial results.

Sinclair Broadcast Group

SBGI

was also down, falling 5.31 percent to $32.74 as the whole sector fell on Monday's session.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.69 percent to $98.53, while gold traded up 0.16 percent to $1,354.40. Silver traded down 0.06 percent Monday to $22.53, while copper fell 0.06 percent to $3.27.

Euro zone

European shares

were lower

today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.12 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index tumbled 0.74 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.24 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.55 percent while U.K. shares declined 0.06 percent.

Economics

US industrial production increased 0.6 percent in September, versus economists' expectations for a 0.4 percent growth. Capacity utilization climbed to 78.3 percent versus 77.9 percent.

The pending home sales index declined 5.60 percent in September.

The Dallas Fed general business activity index declined to 3.60 in October, versus a prior reading of 12.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of 10.00. The Treasury is set to auction 2-year notes.

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