Investing.com – U.S. stock markets were mixed on Monday, ahead of the release of U.S. data on existing homes sales which was widely expected to show home sales stayed close to record low levels in June.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.04%; the S&P 500 index gained 0.12% and the Nasdaq Composite index shed 0.13%.
Shares in FedEx jumped 4.7% in early trade after the company raised its earnings forecast for the quarter and year. The company's chief financial officer Alan Graf said "the continued strong demand for our higher-margin FedEx International Priority package and freight services, with IP package volumes is expected to grow more than 20% again this quarter."
Traders were also awaiting earnings reports from Alcon, the world’s largest eye-care company and asset managers Legg Mason due after the close of U.S. markets.
Pharmaceutical stocks were closely watched after GlaxoSmithKline shed 1.73% during European afternoon trade following reports that the U.K.’s largest drug manufacturer expressed interest in buying U.S. biotech company Genzyme.
Airline stocks edged slightly higher as oil priced eased, shares of US Airways advanced 0.68% while Alaska Air shares climbed 1.0%.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were also mixed: France’s CAC 40 shed 0.16%; Germany's DAX fell 0.28%; Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 0.02%; and the EURO STOXX 50 was down 0.06%.
On Friday, euro zone bank stress tests, which looked at 91 banks in 20 countries revealed that one German, one Greek and five Spanish banks failed the test and may need to raise more than EUR 3.5 billion of additional capital.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.04%; the S&P 500 index gained 0.12% and the Nasdaq Composite index shed 0.13%.
Shares in FedEx jumped 4.7% in early trade after the company raised its earnings forecast for the quarter and year. The company's chief financial officer Alan Graf said "the continued strong demand for our higher-margin FedEx International Priority package and freight services, with IP package volumes is expected to grow more than 20% again this quarter."
Traders were also awaiting earnings reports from Alcon, the world’s largest eye-care company and asset managers Legg Mason due after the close of U.S. markets.
Pharmaceutical stocks were closely watched after GlaxoSmithKline shed 1.73% during European afternoon trade following reports that the U.K.’s largest drug manufacturer expressed interest in buying U.S. biotech company Genzyme.
Airline stocks edged slightly higher as oil priced eased, shares of US Airways advanced 0.68% while Alaska Air shares climbed 1.0%.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were also mixed: France’s CAC 40 shed 0.16%; Germany's DAX fell 0.28%; Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 0.02%; and the EURO STOXX 50 was down 0.06%.
On Friday, euro zone bank stress tests, which looked at 91 banks in 20 countries revealed that one German, one Greek and five Spanish banks failed the test and may need to raise more than EUR 3.5 billion of additional capital.