Stocks News Us: Nasdaq, S&P 500 end lower with Apple; Dow up

Valecha Engineering

03/09/2014 22:21

Sept 3 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq and S&P 500 ended lower on 
Wednesday, dragged down by a more than 4 percent drop in shares 
of Apple  AAPL.O , while the Dow finished slightly higher. 
    Apple slid 4.2 percent to $98.94, the stock's worst daily 
percentage decline since Jan. 28. At least one brokerage mulled 
downgrading the stock as Apple grappled with a possible security 
breach of its iCloud service a week before the launch of its new 
iPhone. ID:nL1N0R41TL  
    The stock was the biggest drag on both the Nasdaq and S&P 
500. The S&P technology sector  .SPLRCT  fell 0.7 percent, 
making it the day's worst-performing sector. 
    Helping the Dow, shares of Exxon Mobil  XOM.N  bounced back 
from Tuesday's losses along with oil prices. Exxon rose 0.6 
percent, while Chevron  CVX.N  was up 0.3 percent. U.S. crude 
oil prices ended more than 2 percent higher. 
    Investors were cautious ahead of the European Central Bank's 
policy meeting Thursday, which could give clues on whether the 
ECB will launch a bond-buying program. 
    "There's a bit of trepidation about the upcoming ECB 
meeting," said Douglas Cote, chief market strategist at Voya 
Investment Management in New York. 
    The Dow Jones industrial average  .DJI  rose 10.72 points or 
0.06 percent, to 17,078.28, the S&P 500  .SPX  lost 1.56 points 
or 0.08 percent, to 2,000.72 and the Nasdaq Composite  .IXIC  
dropped 25.62 points or 0.56 percent, to 4,572.57. 
    About 5.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 
below the 4.7 billion average for the last five days, according 
to data from BATS Global Markets. 
    The largest percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange 
is Blyth  BTH.N , which was up 35.98 percent, while the largest 
percentage decliner was Genie Energy  GNE.N , down 14.88 
percent. 
    At the NYSE, most active stocks included Brazilian oil 
company Petrobras  PBR.N , down 1.74 percent, and Brazilian 
miner Vale SA  VALE.N , up 1.09 percent. 
    Besides Apple, the most active stocks on Nasdaq included 
Image Sensing  ISNS.O , up 16.2 percent, and Microsoft  MSFT.O , 
down 0.3 percent. 
    Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 
1,657 to 1,391, for a 1.19-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the 
Nasdaq, 1,738 issues fell and 986 advanced for a 1.76-to-1 ratio 
favoring decliners. 
    The broad S&P 500 index posted 57 new 52-week highs and no 
new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 94 new highs and 35 new 
lows.    
     
From earlier in the day:         
15:40 - U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies are up sharply 
and leading ADR gains on Wednesday following two surveys showing 
activity in China's services sector rebounded in August. 
 ID:nL3N0R40EO  
    Shares of PetroChina  PTR.N  are up 2.6 percent in New York, 
while shares of China Mobile  CHL.N  are up 2.8 percent and 
shares of China Life Insurance  LFC.N  are up 3.5 percent. 
    In the wider ADR market, the BNY Mellon index of Asian ADRs 
 .BKAS  is up 0.64 percent, while the broader index of leading 
ADRs  .BKADR  is up 0.61 percent. 
    U.S.-listed shares of Argentine companies also are gaining, 
with shares of YPF  YPF.N  up 6.3 percent and shares of Pampa 
Energia  PAM.N  up 4.9 percent. Argentina's Senate is debating a 
bill designed to sidestep U.S. court rulings that led to the 
South American country's July debt default.  ID:nL1N0R40YB  
    Among the day's most-actively traded ADRs are Brazilian oil 
company Petrobras  PBR.N , which is down 1.6 percent, and 
Brazilian miner Vale  VALE.N , up 1 percent. They are among the 
day's most actively traded on the New York Stock Exchange. 
    Index snapshot at 14:15: 
    * S&P 500  .SPX  is up 0.37 points, 0.02 percent. 
    * Nasdaq Comp  .IXIC  is down 18.31 points, 0.4 percent. 
    * Dow industrials  .DJI  are up 31.75 points, 0.19 percent. 
    * Russell 2000  .TOY  is falling 4.55 points, 0.39 percent. 
    * S&P MidCap  .IDX  is down 2.38 points, 0.16 percent. 
    * S&P SmallCap  .SPCY  is off 1.94 points, 0.29 percent.     
     
 
14:27 - Apple Inc  AAPL.O  is having its worst day in months on 
Wednesday, with the stock down sharply on heavy volume going 
into the launch of the newest version of its iPhone product 
line. 
    Shares of the tech titan are down 3.3 percent at $99.92, 
falling under $100 a share for the first time since Aug. 20 in 
the biggest one-day percentage decline since Jan. 28. The stock 
is the most actively traded name on the Nasdaq, with more than 
100 million shares exchanging hands, well above Apple's 50-day 
average of 45.84 million shares. 
    Investors are concerned that at the Sept. 9 launch event, 
Apple will not announce any new products that could drive more 
accelerated growth. Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy 
Hargreaves said it was time to take profit in the company, which 
is up about 25 percent year-to-date.  ID:nL1N0R41HE  
    Other analysts saw the decline as a reaction to Samsung 
Electronics Co's  005930.KS  introduction of its own 
large-screen smartphone. It also faces scrutiny after individual 
iCloud accounts were recently hacked and nude pictures of 
celebrities were posted online. 
    Index snapshot at 14:14: 
    * S&P 500  .SPX  is up 0.37 points, 0.02 percent. 
    * Nasdaq Comp  .IXIC  is down 18.31 points, 0.4 percent. 
    * Dow industrials  .DJI  are up 31.75 points, 0.19 percent. 
    * Russell 2000  .TOY  is falling 4.55 points, 0.39 percent. 
    * S&P MidCap  .IDX  is down 2.38 points, 0.16 percent. 
    * S&P SmallCap  .SPCY  is off 1.94 points, 0.29 percent.    
     
From earlier in the session:         
13:57 - The Nasdaq is lower in early afternoon trading, dragged 
down by a drop in shares of Apple  AAPL.O , while the Dow and 
S&P 500 were up slightly. 
    Apple shares are down 3.2 percent, falling below the $100 
mark for the first time since August and on track for its worst 
percentage decline since Jan. 28 as it grappled with a possible 
security breach into its iCloud service a week before a crucial 
launch of its new iPhone.  ID:nL1N0R41HE  
    Apple is weighing on the S&P technology sector  .SPLRCT , 
down 0.5 percent, and is the day's worst-performing sector. 
    Helping to lift both the Dow and S&P 500 are shares of Exxon 
Mobil  XOM.N , which are bouncing back from Tuesday's losses 
along with oil prices. Exxon is up 0.9 percent, while Chevron 
 CVX.N  is up 0.5 percent. 
    The Dow Jones industrial average  .DJI  is rising 41.44 
points, or 0.24 percent, to 17,109, the S&P 500  .SPX  is up 
1.25 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,003.53 and the Nasdaq 
Composite  .IXIC  is losing 16.91 points, or 0.37 percent, to 
4,581.28. 
    The largest percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange 
is Blyth  BTH.N , which is up 37.6 percent, while the largest 
percentage decliner is Vince Holding  VNCE.N , down 11.02 
percent. 
    At the NYSE, most active stocks include U.S.-listed shares 
of Petrobras  PBR.N , down 1.69 percent, and of Vale SA 
 VALE.N , up 1.33 percent. 
    On the Nasdaq, besides Apple, most active stocks include 
Image Sensing  ISNS.O , up 31.8 percent, and Facebook  FB.O , 
down 0.6 percent. 
    Advancing issues are outnumbering declining ones on the NYSE 
by 1,498 to 1,493; on the Nasdaq, 1,515 issues are falling and 
1,140 advancing for a 1.33-to-1 ratio favoring decliners. 
    The broad S&P 500 index is posting 56 new 52-week highs and 
no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite is recording 89 new highs and 
29 new lows. 
       
 
11:32-Steel stocks are up in active trading on Wednesday after 
Morgan Stanley raised its outlook on the sector, viewing the 
industry now as "attractive" due to rising capacity utilization 
and favorable demand trends. 
    U.S. Steel Corp  X.N  is up 2.6 percent to $39.08 a share 
with 4.9 million shares traded in about two hours of activity on 
Wednesday. The stock hit a 52-week high earlier in the session; 
Morgan Stanley names the company one of its two top picks in the 
sector, and raised its price target on the stock to $60 from $35 
a share. 
    The other top pick, Steel Dynamics Inc  STLD.O , has gained 
2.4 percent to $23.76 with 1.96 million shares traded, and also 
hit a 52-week high of $23.86 earlier in the day. Morgan's price 
target on this name was increased to $28 from $21. 
    Index snapshot at 11:30: 
    * S&P 500  .SPX  is falling 0.54 points, 0.03 percent. 
    * Nasdaq Comp  .IXIC  is down 19.20 points, 0.42 percent. 
    * Dow industrials  .DJI  are up 30.28 points, 0.18 percent. 
    * Russell 2000  .TOY  is falling 1.79 points, 0.15 percent. 
    * S&P MidCap  .IDX  is down 1.52 points, 0.11 percent. 
    * S&P SmallCap  .SPCY  is off 1.04 points, 0.15 percent. 
     
From earlier in the day:     
09:48 - U.S. stocks are trading higher shortly after the open on 
Wednesday as optimism grew that a resolution might be reached 
between Ukraine and Russia. 
    Investors are also looking ahead to data on factory orders 
as well as the Federal Reserve's Beige Book of economic activity 
across the nation.      
    The Dow Jones industrial average  .DJI  is rising 66.66 
points, or 0.39 percent, to 17,134.22, the S&P 500  .SPX  is up 
5.97 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,008.25 and the Nasdaq 
Composite  .IXIC  is adding 10.15 points, or 0.22 percent, to 
4,608.34. 
    The largest percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange 
is Blyth  BTH.N , which is up 25.21 percent, while the largest 
percentage decliner is Coupns.com Inc  COUP.K , down 7.19 
percent. 
    At the NYSE, the most active stocks are Bank of America 
 BAC.N , unchanged at $16.22; JPMorgan Chase  JPM.N , up 0.64 
percent to $60.05 and Petroleo Brasil  PBR.N , up 0.24 percent 
to $20.70. 
    On the Nasdaq, the top 3 most active stocks are Image 
Sensing  ISNS.O , up 45.0 percent to $9.67; Microsoft Corp 
 MSFT.O , down 0.7 percent to $44.79 and Apple Inc  AAPL.O , 
down 0.4 percent to $102.90. 
    Advancing issues are outnumbering declining ones on the NYSE 
by 2,068 to 596, for a 3.47-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the 
Nasdaq, 1,436 issues are rising and 699 falling for a 2.05-to-1 
ratio favoring advancers. 
    The broad S&P 500 index is posting 39 new 52-week highs and 
no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite is recording 63 new highs and 
5 new lows.   
     
08:40- Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc  INFI.O  and Local Corp 
 LOCM.O  are among the biggest premarket movers on Wednesday, 
with both names rallying on heavy volume. 
    Infinity is surging 41 percent to $15.37 after the company 
announced a collaboration with Abbvie  ABBV.N  to develop a 
cancer treatment. If the premarket move holds, it would 
represent one of the biggest one-day advances for the stock 
ever.  ID:nWNAB04NSF  
    Local is up 8.3 percent to $1.82 after it said it reached a 
favorable settlement in patent infringement litigation with 
Fry's Electronics.  
    On the downside, Digital Ally  DGLY.O  is down 5.4 percent 
to $31.59, pulling back after a massive rally of nearly 80 
percent in the previous session.  
    Futures snapshot at 8:33: 
    * S&P 500 e-minis  ESc1  are up 7 points, 0.35 percent, with 
252,457 contracts changing hands. 
    * Nasdaq 100 e-minis  NQc1  are gaining 13 points, 0.32 
percent in volume of 36,284 contracts. 
    * Dow e-minis  1YMc1  are up 69 points, 0.4 percent with 
38,729 contracts changing hands. 
     
07:42-U.S. stock index futures are higher on Wednesday, with 
hopes rising for a possible ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. 
    The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian 
leader Petro Poroshenko had agreed on steps towards peace in 
eastern Ukraine, even though there was no agreement for a 
ceasefire. Such a deal would remove a headwind from the market, 
which has been concerned about the potential fallout to any 
escalation in tensions between the two countries. 
    Toll Brothers Inc  TOL.N  is higher in premarket trading, 
rising 0.9 percent to $35.94 after the luxury homebuilder 
reported a sharply higher profit.  ID:nL3N0R4375  
    Futures snapshot at 7:41: 
    * S&P 500 e-minis  ESc1  are up 6 points, 0.3 percent, with 
225,553 contracts changing hands. 
    * Nasdaq 100 e-minis  NQc1  are gaining 12 points, 0.29 
percent in volume of 32,867 contracts. 
    * Dow e-minis  1YMc1  are up 59 points, 0.35 percent with 
35,280 contracts changing hands. 
 
 (Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica and Caroline Valetkevitch; 
additional reporting by Akane Otani) 
 ((caroline.valetkevitch@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +1 
646-223-6393; Reuters Messaging: 
caroline.valetkevitch@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))