Markets opened lower this morning following some reversals in Europe, not the least of which is the coming French presidential election. PMI readings from Europe and China were also weak. Asian and European markets were lower across the board today as well. The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.27% at 79.409. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.05% at 676.38, with commodities mixed, though orange juice is down more than -5%. WTI crude oil closed down -1.3% at $102.49/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -0.12% at $118.62/barrel. Gold settled down -0.06% today, at $1,632.60/ounce.
The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA fell more than 102 points to 12,926.86 (-0.79%), the NASDAQ fell 30 points (-1%) to 2,970.45, and the S&P 500 fell -0.84% or more than 11 points to 1,366.94.
There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) reiterated ‘outperform’ with a $22 target price at Credit Suisse; F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) started as ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) raised to ‘overweight’ at Evercore; Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $146 at BofA/ML.
Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) is down -5.1% at $60.77; ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is down -0.6% at $72.44; D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) is down -2.1% at $15.06 (our coverage here); Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) is down -0.15% at $47.37; Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS) is down -5% at $34.11; Potlach Corp. (NYSE: PCH) is down -1.7% at $30.53; and Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) is up 0.32% at $7.90.
Other standouts from today include the following stocks:
Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN) is up 14.2% at $26.17 after posting a new 52-week high this morning of $26.25. The company has hired advisers for a possible sale of the company. More coverage here and here.
LSI Corp. (NYSE: LSI) is up 1% at $8.01. The semiconductor maker got a boost from a story in Barron’s magazine over the weekend. More coverage here.
Stay tuned for Tuesday. The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee begins its two-day meeting. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):
- 9:00 a.m. – S&P Case-Shiller housing price index
- 10:00 a.m. – New home sales
- 10:00 a.m. – Conference board consumer confidence
- 10:00 a.m. – FHFA house price index
- 10:00 a.m. – Richmond Fed manufacturing index
- 11:30 a.m. – 4-week bill auction
- 1:00 p.m. – 2-year note auction
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Paul Ausick
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