Sept 18 (Reuters) – Some U.S. stocks on the move on Tuesday:
(For the Morning News Call newsletter click on http://link.reuters.com/nex49s;
for The Day Ahead newsletter click on http://link.reuters.com/mex49s)
WALL ST LITTLE CHANGED AS RALLY LOSES STEAM
Wall Street stocks were little changed as investors looked
to economic data this week for direction after a rally that was
driven primarily by central banks’ stimulus policies.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 8.26 points,
or 0.06 percent, to 13,561.36. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index
dropped 1.48 points, or 0.10 percent, to 1,459.71. The
Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.22 points, or 0.04
percent, to 3,177.46.
** GOOGLE INC, $715.88, up 8 pct (1305 ET)
Google’s Motorola Mobility unveiled its first smartphone
handset to be powered by an Intel processor on Tuesday,
featuring a wide screen and longer-life battery to better
compete against Apple’s iPhone and Samsung.
** ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC, $3.67, down 8 pct
(1248 ET)
The struggling personal computer chipmaker said Chief
Financial Officer Thomas Seifert was leaving the company to
pursue other opportunities.
** MICROSOFT CORP, $31.19, down 0.08 pct (1248 ET)
The company on Monday warned a newly discovered bug in its
Internet Explorer web browser makes PCs vulnerable to attack by
hackers and urged customers to download a piece of security
software to mitigate the risk of infection.
** HNI CORP, $26.12, down 14 pct (1248 ET)
The company said its third-quarter adjusted profit would
miss its own forecast on lower-than-expected demand in its
office supply business.
** F5 NETWORKS INC, $110.42, up 6 pct (1247 ET)
** CISCO SYSTEMS INC, $19.09, down 0.3 pct (1247
ET)
Shares of F5, the networking gear maker, were buoyed after
rival Cisco said it will stop production of its network load
balancer.
** SAREPTA THERAPEUTICS INC, $16, up 8 pct (1248
ET)
The biotechnology company said U.S. health regulators
granted fast track status to two of its experimental drugs for
the treatment of the Marburg and Ebola viruses.
** VELTI PLC, $9.62, up 12 pct (1251 ET)
The company said it won a two-year, $27 million deal to
provide its mobile marketing technology to a major U.S. brand.
** ENERGIZER HOLDINGS INC, $74.17, up 9 pct (1251
ET)
The maker of Energizer batteries and Schick razors outlined
plans to cut jobs and reduce overhead spending as part of a plan
to improve its cost competitiveness and profitability.
** MCG CAPITAL CORP, $4.69, down 10 pct (1251 ET)
Stifel Nicolaus downgraded the finance company’s stock to
“sell” from “hold” on valuation and an anticipated cut in the
company’s dividend rate.
** DFC GLOBAL CORP, $17.94, down 7 pct (1251 ET)
Jefferies & Co downgraded the company’s stock to “hold” from
“buy”.
** LAMAR ADVERTISING CO, $33.23, up 2 pct (1251 ET)
Goldman Sachs raised the company’s stock to “conviction buy”
from “neutral”.
** WMS INDUSTRIES INC, $15.96, down 7 pct (1251 ET)
Deutsche Bank cut the stock to “sell” from “hold,” citing
the slot machine maker’s aggressive use of credit extension and
growing dependence on non-core earnings.
** OPTIMER PHARMACEUTICALS INC, $14.23, down 8 pct
(1251 ET)
BofA Merrill Lynch downgraded the company’s stock to
“underperform” from “buy”, according to StreetInsider.com
.
** STEEL DYNAMICS INC, $12.12, down 3 pct (1251 ET)
Jefferies & Co downgraded the company’s stock to “hold” from
“buy”.
** INTEL CORP, $23.18, down 0.04 pct (1253 ET)
** TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, $28.75, down 1.2 pct (1253 ET)
RBC Capital Markets downgraded a host of chipmakers by a
notch to “sector perform,” citing a continued slump in the
personal computer sector and weakened Chinese and European
markets.
** QUESTCOR PHARMACEUTICALS, $51.63, up 3 pct (1253
ET)
Oppenheimer & Co raised the company’s price target to $69
from $59.
** FEDEX CORP, $87.22, down 2 pct (1253 ET)
The world’s second-largest package delivery company lowered
its fiscal 2013 profit target, saying earnings could slide as
much as 6 percent for the year, as a weakening world economy
prompts customers to shift toward lower-priced and slower
shipping options.
** CLEARWIRE CORP, $1.45, down 7 pct (1253 ET)
** TIME WARNER CABLE INC, $92.66, up 0.59 pct (1254
ET)
Time Warner has put a process in motion to sell its stake in
wireless service provider Clearwire, according to a regulatory
filing.
** YAHOO INC, $15.72, up 0.19 pct (1255 ET)
China’s Alibaba Group said it bought back half
the stake Yahoo owned in the company for about $7.6 billion,
moving closer to an initial public offering.
** RUBICON TECHNOLOGY INC, $10.25, up 9 pct (1255
ET)
ThinkEquity LLC upgraded the rating on the electronic
materials provider’s stock to “buy” from “hold”.
** SHUTTERFLY INC, $34.44, up 4 pct (1255 ET)
The Internet-based publisher said it acquired Penguin
Digital Inc, a mobile application developer.
** MANCHESTER UNITED, $12.80, down 3 pct (1255 ET)
The English soccer club’s total revenue dipped 3 percent to
320.3 million pounds in the year to June 30.
** LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP, $91.64, down 0.6 pct (1255
ET)
Pentagon officials slammed Lockheed Martin’s performance on
the $396 billion F-35 fighter jet program and said they would
not bail out the program again if problems with the plane’s
cutting-edge pilot helmet and software were not resolved.
** MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC, $6.45, down 2 pct (1255 ET)
U.S. bondholders who have been battling Elpida Memory’s
planned sale to Micron Technology revealed on Monday the
bankrupt Japanese chipmaker had carried out “unauthorized”
dealings involving its U.S. assets.
** MERIDIAN BIOSCIENCE INC, $18.39, up 0.3 pct
(1255 ET)
The diagnostic test kit maker said its test to detect a
common bacterial throat infection received marketing approval in
the United States.
** OCZ TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC, $4.23, down 5 pct (1255
ET)
The company, which makes solid-state memory drives, said
Chief Executive Ryan Petersen has resigned.
** SCICLONE PHARMACEUTICALS INC, $4.73, up 9 pct
(1255 ET)
The specialty pharmaceutical company said the Chinese
government cut the retail price of its hepatitis and cancer drug
Zadaxin following a review, but added the move would have a
lower-than-expected impact on revenue.
** SCHIFF NUTRITION INTERNATIONAL INC, $22.99, up 10
pct (1243 ET)
The company, a maker of vitamins, nutritional supplements
and nutrition bars, reported a 46 percent rise in net sales for
the first quarter.
** BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORP, $5.62, down 2 pct (1243
ET)
Leerink Swann LLC downgraded its rating of the medical
device maker to “market perform” from “outperform”.
** ALCOA INC, $9.49, down 0.9 pct (1242 ET)
Jefferies & Co downgraded the company to “hold” from “buy”.
** PMFG INC, $7.98, up 16 pct (1306 ET)
The company won a $13.7 million contract to provide
filtration systems to the U.S. Navy for five years.
** ALLSTATE CORP, $39.71, down 0.20 pct (1242 ET)
White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd, has filed a
federal lawsuit against peer Allstate over the 2011 sale of the
online auto insurer, Esurance, alleging that Allstate
inappropriately lowered the final purchase price.
** ACTUANT CORP, $30.53, up 1 pct (1242 ET)
The diversified manufacturer said its fourth-quarter results
would be at the upper half of its forecast, and it would record
an acquisition-related impairment charge.
** DECKERS OUTDOOR CORP, $43.93, down 8 pct (1255
ET)
Shares of Deckers fell after StreetInsider.com quoted Sterne
Agee & Leach analyst Sam Poser as saying in a note that the
company’s popular UGG brand’s sales are off to a slow start in
the fall season. (http://link.reuters.com/vyg72t)
(Compiled by Krithika Krishnamurthy in Bangalore)
