Here's where markets stand at mid-day:
-NYSE up 48.04 (+0.66%) to 7,277.12
-DJIA up 63.54 (+0.55%) to 11,540.69
-S&P 500 up 8.22 (+0.63%) to 1,212.20
-Nasdaq up 16.67 (+0.64%) to 2,636.91
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Nikkei down 0.8%
Hang Seng down 1.3%.
Shanghai Composite down 0.3%.
FTSE-100 up 1.2%.
DAX-30 up 1.3%.
MID-DAY NYSE INDEX WATCH
NYSE Energy up 2% at 11,432.04
NYSE Financial up 0.01% at 4,013.46
NYSE Health Care up 0.42% at 6,710.93
NYSE Arca Tech 100 up 0.57% at 1,089.60
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) AAPL (+1.9%) started with Buy rating.
(+) JNPR (+1.6%) started with Buy rating.
(+) CSCO (+0.01%) started with Buy rating.
(+) EMC (+1.9%) started with Buy rating.
(+) PIR (+2.5%) sets new buyback.
(+) ADBE (+6%)
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) TQNT (-7.4%) remains active amid chatter over its components
in iPhone.
(-) MAT (-0.7%) meets with earnings, raises buyback.
(-) DELL (-0.1) started with Hold rating.
MARKET DIRECTION
Stocks have pared some early gains but are still higher after
new data showed a decline in consumer sentiment. That dampened some
of the enthusiasm after a strong opening thanks to better-than
expected retail sales and strong earnings from Google (
GOOG
).
The October Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index fell to
57.5 from 59.4 in September. Economists polled by MarketWatch had
expected a slight rise to 59.7.
Also this morning, a news report showed that U.S. retail sales
roses 1.1% in September, the largest increase in seven months.
Sales, excluding automobiles, rose 0.6%.
After the market closed yesterday, Google (
GOOG
) reported Q3 earnings of $9.72 per share, better than the analyst
consensus of $8.74 per share on Thomson Reuters. Revenue was $7.51
billion, excluding traffic acquisition costs, ahead of the Street
view of $7.21 billion. That has sent the stock up more than 6%.
Meanwhile, finance ministers and central bankers from the Group
of 20 leading industrialized and developing economies will meet in
Paris to take up the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.
Overseas, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faces a
confidence vote in his government on Friday. Investors are also
digesting news that Standard & Poor's Ratings Services late
Thursday lowered its long-term credit rating on Spain to AA-minus
from AA, citing heightened risks to the nation's growth prospects
due to high unemployment.
In company news:
Teva (
TEVA
) has swung to positive territory after it announced today that it
has completed its acquisition of Cephalon (
CEPH
). The combined company will have a presence in over 60
countries.
Ameriprise Financial (
AMP
) is reportedly upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe
Bruyette. The price target is $61. Ameriprise Financial shares are
up over 2%.
Shares of Hewlett-Packard (
HPQ
) are firm after the company was reportedly initiated with a "buy"
at ISI Group. The firm set a price target is $32. The stock topped
out at $26.34 before backing off to trade up over 1%.
Shares of UBS (UBS) are lower in the regular session after Fitch
Ratings cut the bank's long-term issuer default rating to A from
A-plus. The ratings agency also warned of possible rating cuts for
other European lenders, including Deutsche Bank (DB), according to
several reports.
Shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM) are higher in mid-day trading while
Bloomberg reports the U.S. oil major, along with Chevron (CVX) are
building plants next to certain of their oil refineries to take
advantage of demand for lubricants. Lubricant consumptionis seen
expanding four times faster than oil consumption, the report
says.
In other earnings news:
--Mattel Inc.'s (MAT) reported Q3 net income of $300.8 million,
or 86 cents per share, compared with $283.3 million or 77 cents per
share last year. Earnings matched the Street, according to a
FactSet poll. Revenue rose 9% to nearly $2 billion from $1.83
billion a year ago, beating the consensus view for $1.97
billion.
Commodities are up. December gold contracts are up 0.41% to
$1,676 an ounce while November crude oil contacts are up 0.42% to
$86.54 a barrel.
In energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund (USO) is up 2.57% to
$33.49 and the United States Natural Gas fund (UNG) is up 4.96%, to
$9.11.
In precious metal ETFs, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is up 0.30% to
$162.78. Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) is up 1.28% to $57.
iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is up 0.23% to $31.01.