Mid-Afternoon Market Update: NQ Mobile Climbs On SEC Filing; Huntsman Shares Slide

Related BZSUM Mid-Day Market Update: Micron Gains On Buyback Announcement; Sarepta Shares Dip Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Down; Merck Posts Upbeat Earnings

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.01 percent to 16,806.73 while the NASDAQ tumbled 0.04 percent to 4,481.83. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.21 percent to 1,960.40.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by 0.04 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included John B Sanfilippo & Son (NASDAQ: JBSS), up 3.3 percent, and Blyth (NYSE: BTH), up 3.1 percent.

In trading on Monday, energy shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 2.30 percent. Top losers in the sector included Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), down 14 percent, and Rex Energy (NASDAQ: REXX), off 9.8 percent.

Top Headline

Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter and narrowed its forecast for the year.

The Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based company posted a quarterly profit of $895 million, or $0.31 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $1.12 billion, or $0.38 per share. Excluding certain items, its earnings declined to $0.90 per share from $0.92 per share.

Its revenue slipped 4.3% to $10.56 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.88 per share on revenue of $10.64 billion.

Equities Trading UP

NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ) shares shot up 6.60 percent to $9.53 after the company filed its SEC Form 20-F,l which showed full compliance and no attempts to delete documents.

Shares of Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) got a boost, shooting up 3.35 percent to $32.10 after the company announced a new $1 billion stock repurchase authorization.

Prosensa Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: RNA) shares were also up, gaining 8.20 percent to $13.00 on the FDA requirement of additional data from Sarepta on Eteplirsen. Prosensa Holding is also looking to provide a drug to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Parsley Energy (NYSE: PE) were down 10.63 percent to $15.47. Goldman Sachs downgrades Parsley Energy from Neutral to Sell and lowered the price target from $25.00 to $15.50. Parsley Energy is expected to release its Q3 financial and operating results on November 11, 2014.

Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRPT) shares tumbled 32.72 percent to $15.85 on the FDA requirement of additional data from Sarepta on Eteplirsen.

Huntsman (NYSE: HUN) was down, falling 5.27 percent to $23.21 despite reporting upbeat earnings for the third quarter. However, the company reported revenue of $2.88 billion, versus estimates of $2.91 billion.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.60 percent to $80.52, while gold traded down 0.25 percent to $1,228.70.

Silver traded up 0.02 percent Monday to $17.19, while copper rose 0.74 percent to $3.06.

Eurozone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.62 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.45 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index tumbled 2 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.91 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.81 percent while UK shares dropped 0.92 percent.

Economics

The Markit services PMI fell to 57.30 in October, versus a prior reading of 58.90. However, economists were expecting a reading of 58.00.

The pending home sales index gained 0.3% to reach 105 in September, versus 104.7 in August.

The Dallas Fed general business activity index fell to 10.50 in October, versus a prior reading of 10.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of 11.00.

Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Futures Commodities Options Buybacks FDA

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