Stocks chugged along in a razor-thin range Monday but squeezed out slim gains as a cautious equity market prepares for a very active week of Q1 earnings. Early results were mostly positive with results from Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) and SunTrust (NYSE:STI) beating estimates. Drug stocks were buoyed by rumors of a Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) and AstraZeneca (AZN) merger, while the semiconductor sector got a bump from positive earnings from Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE:AMD).
Data Lite
Monday's second-tier economic data was all but ignored by the financial markets. The Chicago Fed found that economic conditions improved in March as their national index rose to 0.20 last month from 0.14 the month prior, meeting street consensus.
Leading economic indicators rose 0.8% in March versus the consensus estimate of +0.7%.
European markets were all closed Monday for the Easter holiday.
Here's Where The Markets Stood At The Close
US MARKETS
- Dow Jones Industrial Index was up 40 points (0.25%) at 16,449
- S&P 500 was up 7 points (0.37%) at 1,871
- Nasdaq Composite Index was up 26 points (0.64%) at 4,121
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
- FTSE 100 was Closed
- Nikkei 225 was down 0.03%
- Hang Seng Index Closed
- Shanghai China Composite Index was down 1.52%
UPSIDE MOVERS
- (+) CBEY (+38.56%) Agreed to be bought by Birch Communications for $323 million in cash.
- (+) SRPT (+39.26%) Plans to submit a New Drug Application to the U.S. FDA for the approval of eteplirsen as a treatment Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
- (+) WB (+11.71%) Long-term growth story highlight by Fortune Magazine
- (+) ASTM (+24.43%)Agreed to buy Sanofi's (SNY) Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine (CTRM) business for $6.5 million.
- (+) AMD (+11.65%) Returned to profit in Q1 following year-ago net loss, topping analysts' expectations.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
- (-) SPEX (-6.81%) Filed a $30 million mixed security shelf, including 1.78 million common shares.
- (-) SMT, SMA.TO (-8.28%) Founding directors resign
- (-) MGI (-13.47%)Downgraded to market perform from market outperform at JPM Securities, removed the $25 price target.
After Hours Stock News From Midnight Trader.
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