The US dollar index rose sharply today, now up 0.76% at 83.486, almost 12% higher than a year ago. The GSCI commodity index rose about 2.3% to 654.73, with commodities prices mostly higher today. Corn posted a new 12-month high of near $8.30/bushel today, before giving some of the gain back. WTI crude oil fell -1.1% today, closing at $91.44/barrel. Brent crude trades down -0.9% at $106.83/barrel. Natural gas is up 2.67% today to $3.079/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled at $1,582.80/ounce, up 0.2%.
The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 120 points to 12,823.33 (-0.93%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 41 points (-1.37%) to 2,925.30, and the S&P 500 fell -1% or nearly 14 points to 1,362.70.
There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) cut to ‘underperform’ at RBC Capital; Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) started as ‘buy’ at SunTrust; TransCanada Co. (NYSE: TRP) raise to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) raised to ‘hold’ at SocGen.
Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is down -21.3% at $318.05 (more coverage here); Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is up 3% at $611.09; Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS) is down -17.4% at $4.31; SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) is up 10.8% at $38.86; Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is down -1.7% at $30.16; American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NYSE: AEP) is down -0.2% at $41.91 (more coverage here); Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) is up 9.4% at $45.65 (more coverage here); General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is up 1% at $20.00 (more coverage here); ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) is down -6.5% at $33.39; and Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) is down -5.7% at $6.78 (more coverage here).
Before markets open on Monday we are scheduled to get earnings results from Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: CCE), Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN), Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS), and McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD).
Some standouts from today include the following stocks:
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) is up 31.2% at $55.12 after hitting a high of $62.07. The network security software company held its IPO today. More coverage here.
Kayak Software Corp. (NASDAQ: KYAK) is up 30.8% at $34.00 after reaching a high of $35.00. The Internet travel site launched its IPO today as well.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) is up 11.9% at $76.55 after posting a new high of $79.19 earlier today. The pharmaceutical maker received approval for one of its cancer drugs today. More coverage here.
Gold Resources Corp. (NYSEMKT: GORO) is down -28.6% at $18.00. The exploration stage gold miner lowered its production target by -15% after markets closed last night.
Stay tuned for Monday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):
- 8:30 a.m. – Chicago Fed national activity index
- 11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6- month bill auctions
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Have a great weekend!
Paul Ausick
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