Friday Closing Bell: Markets Fall Following Fed-mania

September 20, 2013 by Paul Ausick

September 20, 2013: U.S. markets opened mixed Friday but very near the flat line. That was the high-point for the day for the DJIA and the S&P 500; the Nasdaq Composite actually rose to a couple of points above its open for a moment before start its slide. A slew of speeches from Fed officials didn’t add anything that was unknown about Wednesday’s FOMC announcement. Two IPOs and two secondary offerings did their best to give the markets a lift today, but it was not gonna happen.

Asian markets closed mixed today, while European and Latin American markets closed mostly lower.

Monday’s calendar includes a speech by Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart and the following data releases and events (all times Eastern):

  • 8:30 a.m. – Chicago Fed national activity index
  • 8:58 a.m. – Flash manufacturing PMI index
  • 11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month bill auctions

Here are the closing bell levels for Friday:

  • S&P500 1,709.68 (-12.66; -0.73%)
  • DJIA 15,459.30 (-178.86; -1.14%)
  • NASDAQ 3,774.73 (-14.66; -0.39%)
  • 10YR TNOTE 2.738% (-0.15625)
  • Gold $1,332.50 (-36.80; -2.7%), up 1.8% for the week
  • WTI Crude oil $104.67 (-1.72; -1.6%), down 3.3% for the week
  • Euro/Dollar: 1.3522 (-0.0007; -0.06%)

Shares of BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) were halted for about 35 minutes late Friday afternoon. The company announced absolutely awful preliminary results one week ahead of its scheduled announcement date. Shares closed at $8.70, down 17.3% for the day.

Big Earnings Movers: Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) is down 7.1% at $45.78. Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) is up 18.6% at $14.77.

Stocks on the Move: FireEye Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) is up 78% at $35.60 after its morning IPO. Rocket Fuel Inc. (NASDAQ: FUEL) is up 89.7% at $55.00 following its IPO. JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) is up 4.9% at $17.29 following a secondary offering. Shutterstock Inc. (NASDAQ: SSTK) is up 16.2% at $70.11 after its own secondary offering.

In all, 154 stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 27 stocks posted new lows.

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