Here's where markets stand at mid-day:
-NYSE up 133.17 (+1.75%) to 7,741.58
-DJIA up 177.63 (+1.58%) to 11,392.76
-S&P 500 up 17.10 (+1.44%) to 1,215.16
-Nasdaq up 31.60 (+1.24%) to 2,571.11
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Hang Seng up 1.62%
Nikkei up 2.17%
FTSE up 1.8%
MID-DAY NYSE INDEX WATCH
NYSE Energy up 2.59% at 11,791.71
NYSE Financial up 1.82% at 4,886.26
NYSE Health Care up 0.47% at 6,526.74
NYSE Arca Tech 100 up 1.01% at 1,044.27
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) WFMI (+13.9%) continues evening gain that followed solid
earnings.
(+) QCOM (+6%) continues evening gain that followed upbeat
earnings.
(+) F (+4.7%) gaining in active volume after encouraging October
sales.
(+) M (+4.3%) gains after Oct. sales.
(+) URRE (+7.6%) inks LOI with Cameco unit.
(+) ARO (+1.3%) down after sales data.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) ALU (-7.7%) draws negative reaction to revenue news.
(-) COCO (-8.9%) downgraded.
(-) KSS (-2.4%) gains after dip in sales, backing EPS
guidance.
(-) SIRI (-0.64%) gains after earnings.
MARKET DIRECTION
Stocks are broadly higher, extending prior session gains, after
the Federal Reserve announced additional steps to spur the U.S.
economy. Investors mostly shrugged off new data that showed an
increase in jobless benefits claims.
Earlier, the Fed announced plans to purchase an additional $600
billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of the second
quarter of 2011, a pace of about $75 billion per month and slightly
above what Wall Street was expecting.
Along with that, the Fed will also keep reinvesting principal
payments from its securities holdings. Stocks were choppy after the
announcement, having gained in the build-up to the official
announcement.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed a
20,000-person jump in weekly jobless benefits claims after recent
declines. Economists predicted a slightly smaller rise.
The cost of a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to an average of 4.24%
this week, according to Freddie Mac, up from an average of 4.23%
last week and up from an all-time low, dating back to 1971, of
4.19% last month. The average rate on 15-year fixed loan fell to
3.63% from 3.66% last week, while five-year adjustable-rate
mortgages fell to their lowest level, 3.39%, in at least five
years, down from 3.41%.
In company news, Dell Inc. (
DELL
) said its plans to focus M&A activity on expanding IT services
in specific markets as the company looks to diversify beyond its
core PC business, Reuters reported, citing a senior executive with
the company. The company does not plan to concentrate on making
large acquisitions in the near future, the report said.
JPMorgan Chase (
JPM
) said its will start refiling foreclosure documents in a couple of
weeks. JPMorgan, along with several other banks, temporarily
stopped home seizures after finding problems with foreclosure
documents For its part, JPMorgan halted foreclosure proceedings in
40 states, affecting about 127,000 loans, the report said.
Walgreen Co. (
WAG
) said it has increased its share of the retail pharmacy market to
19.5% from 18.2% in 2008, according to a Reuters report. The
drugstore chain--the largest in the U.S.--also said it is on track
to meet its goal of $1 billion in savings for 2011, the report
said.
Shares of Ford Motor (
F
) are in solidly positive territory a day after the company
reported sales that outperformed the U.S. auto industry. Yesterday,
Ford said U.S. October sales increased by 19.2% to 157,935 vehicles
from 132,483 a year ago. Also yesterday, General Motors filed for a
$13 billion initial public offering that places a value of $49
billion on that automaker, assuming the exercise of all warrants,
Reuters reported.
Tesla Motors, Inc. (
TSLA
) is higher after the company said Panasonic Corp. had invested $30
million through a private placement of stock. Panasonic bought the
shares at $21.15, a discount to Tesla's Wednesday close of $21.77.
The stock is up about 40% since it went public on June 29,
according to MarketWatch.
BHP Billiton Ltd (
BHP
) is surging after the Canadian government rejected the company's
$40 billion bid for Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (
POT
). While BHP has been given the opportunity to review its options
and 30 days to review its bid, most analysts expected the deal to
fall through.
In the latest earnings news:
--Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc (
ONXX
) is higher in morning trade after its third quarter results jumped
on the back of license deal worth $59 million.
--Sunrise Senior Living (
SRZ
) are higher as the company reported that it swung to a profit in
its third quarter, helped by buyout fees related to its settlement
with HCP (
HCP
), Reuters reported. Sunrise (
SRZ
) reported Q3 revenue of $383.3 million, up from $361.5 million in
Q3 last year. Net income was $0.33, vs. a year ago loss of $0.88
per share.
--Shares of independent oil and gas exploration company Apache
Corp (
APA
) are higher despite reporting third quarter earnings that missed
Wall Street expectations. Adjusted EPS was $2.19 versus the $2.24
consensus.
--Liz Claiborne (
LIZ
) is higher after it narrowed is Q3 loss compared with a year ago
on cost cutting and higher margins, although it still missed the
Street on earnings and sales.
--Whole Foods Market Inc (
WFMI
) is higher as the organic supermarket group reported strong
earnings results for the fourth quarter and raised its full-year
outlook.
--Kohl's (
KSS
) is down after it says October same-store sales fell 2.5%. It sees
Q3 EPS between $0.57 to $0.58, consistent with the low end of its
previous guidance of $0.57 to $0.63, including an accounting
correction resulting from recently identified errors in the
company's accounting for leased properties.
--Qualcomm (
QCOM
) is up near 6%, after the company reported fourth quarter results
that beat expectations on the back of strong smartphone sales.
--Cablevision Systems Corp (
CVC
) is lower after the cable group reported third quarter earnings
that fell short of expectations.
Commodities are mixed as December gold contracts are up $41, or
3.04%, to $1,378 an ounce while December crude contacts are up
1.89%, or $1.60, at $86.29 a barrel.
In energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund (
USO
) is up 1.5% to $37.29 and the United States Natural Gas fund (
UNG
) is down 1.81% to $5.42.
In precious metal ETFs, the SPDR Gold Trust (
GLD
) is down 2.4% to $134.73. Market Vectors Gold Miners (
GDX
) is down 3.79% to $59.40. iShares Silver Trust (
SLV
) is down 3.55% to $25.11.