Stocks ended mixed Wednesday with blue-chips struggling throughout much of Wednesday's session following weak quarterly results for a pair of component companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. But the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite indices extended their advance after better-than-expected financial performance by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:BIIB) among other firms reporting results Tuesday night and into Wednesday, which drove the S&P 500 to another record high.
It was a light day for economic data, with the Mortgage Banker's Association Wednesday reporting a surprise 0.3% rise in single-family homes under contract, returning to positive ground following an 8.0% decline last week. Year-over-year, the purchase applications index is down 15.0%.
Losses for Dow components Boeing (NYSE:BA) and McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) following disappointing earnings results weighed on the blue-chip index, although the Dow Industrials managed to finish the day's session above its 17,000 mark. Ongoing tension in the Middle East and Ukraine also hindered gains, with reports shortly after the opening bell this morning that two Ukranian jet fighters were shot down near the same region where a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet was shot down last week.
Federal aviation authorities in the U.S. this afternoon also extended their moratorium on commercial flights into Israel for a second day.
Crude Oil for September delivery settled 73 cents higher at $103.02 per barrel while August Natural Gas fell 1 cent to $3.76 per 1 million BTU. August Gold fell $1.60 to $1.304.50 per ounce while September Silver was unchanged at $21.00 per ounce. September Copper also settled unchanged at $3.21 per pound.
Here's Where The U.S. Markets Stood At Day's End
- Dow Jones Industrial Average down 26.91 (-0.16%) to 17,086.63
- S&P 500 up 3.48 (+0.18%) to 1,987.01
- NASDAQ Composite Index up 17.68 (+0.40%) to 4,473.70
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
- Hang Seng Index up 0.80%
- Shanghai Composite Index up 0.14%
- FTSE 100 Index up 0.04%
UPSIDE MOVERS
- (+) PBYI, Revises license pact with Pfizer (PFE) for its Neratinib drug candidate after the prospective cancer treatment improved disease-free survival by 33% compared with a placebo during testing in 2,821 women with early-stage breast cancer.
- (+) DRL, Supreme Court overturns earlier ruling to side with the bank in its dispute with the Puerto Rican government over tax revenue owed the bank, citing "important public interest."
- (+) ISRG, Turns in adjusted EPS of $3.73 per share, down from $3.90 per share last year but crushng the Street view by $0.89 per share. Revenue declines 12.4% year over year to $507 million, edging out the Capital IQ consensus by $1.4 million.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
- (-) UIS, Reverses $20.4 mln profit last year with $12.1 mln Q2 net loss. Excluding one-time items, earns $0.11 per share, missing Street view by $0.82 per share. Revenue slips 6% to $806 million, lagging estimates by $21 mln.
- (-) XLNX, Q1 revenue increases 6% year over year to $613 mln, lagging Street view by $18.6 mln. Expects Q3 sales to be flat to down 4% sequentially while analysts, on average, for expecting 5% growth to around $644.1 mln. Q1 EPS OF $0.62 beats by $0.01.
- (-) JAKK, Adjusted Q2 net loss $0.25 per share beats Capital IQ consensus by $0.05. Revenue rises 16.9% year over year to $124.2 mln, also topping Street view by around $11.34 mln. Boosts FY14 revenue guidance by $20 mln and projected EPS by $0.05 per shrae.
After Hours Stock News From Midnight Trader.
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