US Stocks Turn Higher; MAKO Surgical Shares Surge On Acquisition News

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.16 percent to 15,359.38 while the NASDAQ surged 0.27 percent to 3,778.27. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.19 percent to 1,700.70.

Top Headline
AutoZone (AZO) reported a 15% rise in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings.

AutoZone's quarterly profit surged to $371.2 million, or $10.42 per share, from $323.7 million, or $8.46 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted earnings came in at $9.76 per share.

Its net sales climbed 12% to $3.1 billion, while sales at stores open at least one year jumped 1%. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $10.34 per share on sales of $3.09 billion. AutoZone's total auto-parts sales climbed 10% to $2.99 billion. However, its domestic commercial sales jumped 17% to $506.8 million.

Equities Trading UP
MAKO Surgical (MAKO) shot up 82.19 percent to $29.46 after the company agreed to be acquired by Stryker (SYK) for $30 per share in cash.

Shares of Ascena Retail Group (ASNA) got a boost, shooting up 15.30 percent to $19.97 after the company reported upbeat fiscal fourth-quarter results.

Ctrip.com International (CTRP) was also up, gaining 7.44 percent to $55.18 after analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Clovis Oncology (CLVS) were down 13.34 percent to $63.71 on a report from Bloomberg that the company has received no interest from buyers.

AAR (AIR) shares tumbled 9.15 percent to $27.19 after the company reported a drop in its fiscal first-quarter profit.

J. C. Penney Company (JCP) was down, falling 11.43 percent to $10.54 after Dow Jones reported that J.C. Penney will hire around 35,000 holiday season workers.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.31 percent to $103.45, while gold traded up 1.50 percent to $1,336.10.

Silver traded up 1.34 percent Wednesday to $21.88, while copper rose 0.45 percent to $3.27.

Eurozone
European shares were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index surged 0.84 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.14 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.02 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.01 percent while U.K. shares declined 0.27 percent.

Economics
The MBA's index of mortgage application activity climbed 5.5% in the week ended September 20, versus a rise of 11.2% in the week ended September 13.

US durable-goods orders rose 0.1% in August, while core durable-goods orders fell 0.1% in the month.

US new home sales climbed 7.9% to an annual rate of 421,000 in August. However, economists were projecting sales to rise to a rate of 420,000 in August.

Crude stockpiles increased 2.6 million barrels for the week ended September 20, the US Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a fall of 1.5 million barrels.

BY Jake L'Ecuyer