4:13 PM, Aug 30, 2011 --
- DJIA up 20 (+0.2%) to 11,559.95
- S&P 500 up 2.84 (+0.2%) to 1,212.92
- Nasdaq up 14 (+0.55%) to 2,576.11
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
- Nikkei up 1.2%.
- Hang Seng up 1.7%.
- Shanghai Composite down 0.4%.
- FTSE-100 up 1.9%.
- DAX-30 down 1%
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) LLNW approves stock buyback, updates guidance after EyeWonder sale.
(+) DG beats with Q2 results and guides mostly above Street view.
(+) PANL continues evening gain seen on word of new licensing pact.
(+) CLGX continues evening gain seen on report company hires banker to explore strategic options.
(+) MIPS upgraded by analyst.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) BAC down in step with sector; Wells Fargo holds Market Perform rating on stock, ups EPS target for CCB sale.
(-) PATH gets negative FDA complete response letter for migraine patch.
(-) LDK subject of at least two analyst downgrades today.
(-) CEDC falls, remains active after Monday run-up on reported increased stake by major investor.
MARKET DIRECTION
Stocks end a touch firmer having chopped in mixed trading as Wall Street digested mixed economic data and cloudy Fed comments. Equities returned to red in the immediate wake of the afternoon release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes, then firmed anew.
Cautious comments from one regional Fed chief, in which he showed his support for more help for the economy, sparked early volatility. Meanwhile, meeting minutes show there was no clear consensus among Fed members at their August 9 session about what the next easing step would be.
"Some participants judged that none of the tools available to the FOMC would likely do much to promote a faster economic recovery," according to the minutes.
"Consequently, these participants thought that providing additional stimulus at this time would risk boosting inflation without providing a significant gain in output or unemployment."
On the data front, the Conference Board says its confidence gauge fell to 44.5 in August from 59.2 in July. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected the consumer confidence gauge to drop to 51.9.
According to a statement from Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's consumer research center, "a contributing factor may have been the debt ceiling discussions since the decline in confidence was well underway before the S&P downgrade."
Meanwhile, home prices rose 1.1% in June from the previous month, but they have fallen 4.5% over the last year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index. Prices rose 3.6% in the April-through-June quarter over the first quarter of the year, MarketWatch noted in its report on the data.
In company news:
Shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM) fell after it announced a deal with Russian oil major Rosneft under which the companies plan to undertake joint exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources in Russia, the United States and other countries. The deal includes a $3.2 billion exploration program for the Kara Sea and the Black Sea and the establishment of joint Arctic Research and Design Center for Offshore Development in St. Petersburg. There will also be joint operations to develop Western Siberia tight oil resources.
Barnes & Noble (BKS) gained after the bookseller reported its fiscal Q1 results. The company says its net loss per share was $0.99, compared to $1.12 per share last year. Analysts expected a loss of $0.94 per share. Sales were $1.42 billion, missing estimates of $1.46 billion.
Shares of NuPathe (PATH) hit a new 52-week low after the company received a Complete Response Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which means that the company will not launch its migraine patch in the first half of 2012 as previously announced.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) fell while Reuters reports that the bank and Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR) are in talks to buy the financial services arm of India's Futures Group. The group has reportedly hired Morgan Stanley to run the sale process, reports say.
Shares of Bank of America (BAC) fell as several news outlets report that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has filed an objection with the State Supreme Court of New York over Bank of America's proposed $8.5 billion settlement with mortgage bond holders, complicating the bank's efforts to put its mortgage problems behind it.
