U.S. stocks end choppy trade higher – Market Snapshot – MarketWatch
By Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The U.S. stock market finished Monday’s roller-coaster session generally higher. The main indexes swung wildly between gains and losses with the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading in a 187-point range.
Investors welcomed deal news among telecoms and pharmaceutical companies, as well as stronger-than-expected housing data in early morning trade. Heavy selling of Internet stocks dragged markets down in late morning, only to recover by late afternoon amid heavier-than-usual volumes.
The S&P 500
/quotes/zigman/3870025/realtime SPX
+0.48%
ended the day 6.03 points, or 0.3%, higher at 1,869.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
/quotes/zigman/627449/realtime DJIA
+0.53%
closed 87.28 points, or 0.5%, higher at 16,448.74, with Pfizer Inc. and Microsoft Corp leading the gains.
The Nasdaq Composite
/quotes/zigman/12633936/realtime COMP
+0.72%
closed virtually flat, down a point at 4,074.40.
The Global X Social Media Index ETF
/quotes/zigman/7289836/delayed/quotes/nls/socl SOCL
+2.59%
sold off, closing 2.9% lower. Netflix Inc.
/quotes/zigman/87598/delayed/quotes/nls/nflx NFLX
+1.80%
, Amazon.com, Inc.
/quotes/zigman/63011/delayed/quotes/nls/amzn AMZN
+1.28%
and Facebook Inc.
/quotes/zigman/9962609/delayed/quotes/nls/fb FB
+3.58%
shares were among the top 10 decliners on the Nasdaq 100
/quotes/zigman/12633930/realtime NDX
+0.82%
index, all down more than 2%. However, Apple Inc.
/quotes/zigman/68270/delayed/quotes/nls/aapl AAPL
-0.30%
, the heaviest-weighted component on the index, gained 3.9%.
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“Money continues to leave the former high-flying momentum stocks and make its way to the safer and higher-dividend-paying names — that is a classical defensive market,” said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research.
“Volume did pick up from what we’ve been seeing recently and most of that was due to the violent intraday swings we saw. Bull markets usually aren’t very volatile. In fact, 2013 was one of the least volatile years ever. Now with volatility picking up, this is a potential warning,” he added.
A stronger-than-expected number on pending-home sales had helped lift stocks at the open. A gauge of pending-home sales rose 3.4% in March — the first gain in nine months — signaling that sales of existing homes may pick up, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.
This week, investors will focus on earnings and economic reports as well as the Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The Fed is expected to announce further trimming of the bond-buying program by $10 billion. GDP data, set for release Wednesday, will likely show the economy expanded 1% in the first quarter. Nonfarm-payrolls data are scheduled for release Friday and are forecast to show that more than 200,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in April.
Affecting sentiment earlier was the announcement of a new wave of sanctions against Russia.
In corporate news, shares in Charter Communications Inc.
/quotes/zigman/121019/delayed/quotes/nls/chtr CHTR
-2.07%
rallied 7.7% on news that Comcast Corp.
/quotes/zigman/89307/delayed/quotes/nls/cmcsa CMCSA
-0.29%
plans to sell nearly 4 million extra subscribers in a two-staged deal with Charter Communications — representing a consolation prize for Charter’s eight-month pursuit of Time Warner Cable Inc.
/quotes/zigman/528868/delayed/quotes/nls/twc TWC
+0.27%
. Investors shrugged off Charter’s first-quarter earnings, announcing a net loss of 35 cents a share on revenue of $2.2 billion, while analysts expected a profit of 10 cents on revenue of $2.18 billion.
Shares in Comcast and Time Warner gained 1.4% and 1.1% respectively.
Bloomberg
Pfizer is offering nearly $100 billion for Britain’s AstraZeneca.
U.S.-listed shares of AstraZeneca PLC
/quotes/zigman/134653/delayed/quotes/nls/azn AZN
+0.13%
/quotes/zigman/244926/realtime UK:AZN
-0.73%
leapt 12% after Pfizer Inc.
/quotes/zigman/238207/delayed/quotes/nls/pfe PFE
-0.87%
confirmed it has approached the drug maker for a second time about a takeover valued at nearly $100 billion. Pfizer said in a statement that the merger would result in a more efficient tax structure
as AstraZeneca’s non-U.S. profits wouldn’t be subject to U.S. tax. Pfizer shares gained 4.2%%, leading the Dow industrials.
Franklin Resources Inc.
/quotes/zigman/226981/delayed/quotes/nls/ben BEN
+0.19%
reported second-quarter earnings of 89 cents a share, in line with expectations. Shares fell 2.5%.
Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
/quotes/zigman/117103/delayed/quotes/nls/furx FURX
+0.15%
surged 29% after Forest Laboratories Inc.
/quotes/zigman/226825/delayed/quotes/nls/frx FRX
+0.26%
said it would buy the company for $1.1 billion in cash.
In other financial markets, Asian bourses closed mostly lower
, while European stocks posted gains. Metals were mixed
/quotes/zigman/698029/realtime GCM4
-0.15%
, as gold closed lower and oil futures
/quotes/zigman/2237082/realtime CLM4
-0.79%
advanced. The dollar weakened against most other major currencies.
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SPX
S&P 500 Index
US
: S&P Base CME
1,878.33
+8.90
+0.48%
Volume: 489.83M
April 29, 2014 4:29p
/quotes/zigman/627449/realtime
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DJIA
Dow Jones Industrial Average
US
: DJ-Index
16,535.37
+86.63
+0.53%
Volume: 71.24M
April 29, 2014 4:29p
/quotes/zigman/12633936/realtime
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COMP
NASDAQ Composite Index
US
: U.S.: Nasdaq
4,103.54
+29.14
+0.72%
Volume: 0.00
April 29, 2014 5:16p
/quotes/zigman/7289836/delayed/quotes/nls/socl
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SOCL
Global X Social Media Index ETF
US
: U.S.: Nasdaq
$
17.41
+0.44
+2.59%
Volume: 322,167
April 29, 2014 3:59p
/quotes/zigman/87598/delayed/quotes/nls/nflx
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NFLX
Netflix Inc.
US
: U.S.: Nasdaq
$
319.87
+5.66
+1.80%
Volume: 3.28M
April 29, 2014 4:00p
P/E Ratio
116.32
Dividend Yield
N/A
Market Cap
$18.83 billion
Rev. per Employee
$1.99M
/quotes/zigman/63011/delayed/quotes/nls/amzn
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AMZN
Amazon.com Inc.
US
: U.S.: Nasdaq
$
300.38
+3.80
+1.28%
Volume: 6.45M
April 29, 2014 4:00p
P/E Ratio
469.34
Dividend Yield
N/A
Market Cap
$136.48 billion
Rev. per Employee
$666,019
/quotes/zigman/9962609/delayed/quotes/nls/fb
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FB
Facebook Inc. Cl A
US
: U.S.: Nasdaq
$
58.15
+2.01
+3.58%
Volume: 74.43M
April 29, 2014 4:00p
P/E Ratio
75.52
Dividend Yield
N/A
Market Cap
$144.01 billion
Rev. per Employee
$1.41M
/quotes/zigman/12633930/realtime
Add to watchlist
NDX
NASDAQ 100 Index (NASDAQ Calculation)
US
: U.S.: Nasdaq
3,573.99
+28.97
+0.82%
Volume: 0.00
April 29, 2014 5:16p
/quotes/zigman/68270/delayed/quotes/nls/aapl
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AAPL
Apple Inc.
US
: U.S.: Nasdaq
$
592.33
-1.76
-0.30%
Volume: 11.83M
April 29, 2014 4:00p
P/E Ratio
14.07
Dividend Yield
2.22%
Market Cap
$511.74 billion
Rev. per Employee
$2.19M
/quotes/zigman/121019/delayed/quotes/nls/chtr
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CHTR
Charter Communications Inc. Cl A
US
: U.S.: Nasdaq
$
137.15
-2.90
-2.07%
Volume: 2.25M
April 29, 2014 4:00p
P/E Ratio
N/A
Dividend Yield
N/A
Market Cap
$15.13 billion
Rev. per Employee
$390,741
/quotes/zigman/89307/delayed/quotes/nls/cmcsa
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CMCSA
Comcast Corp. Cl A
US
: U.S.: Nasdaq
$
51.55
-0.15
-0.29%
Volume: 16.88M
April 29, 2014 4:00p
P/E Ratio
18.88
Dividend Yield
1.75%
Market Cap
$134.02 billion
Rev. per Employee
$490,846
/quotes/zigman/528868/delayed/quotes/nls/twc
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TWC
Time Warner Cable Inc.
US
: U.S.: NYSE
$
141.33
+0.38
+0.27%
Volume: 3.74M
April 29, 2014 4:00p
P/E Ratio
19.79
Dividend Yield
2.12%
Market Cap
$39.27 billion
Rev. per Employee
$430,756
/quotes/zigman/134653/delayed/quotes/nls/azn
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AZN
AstraZeneca PLC ADS
US
: U.S.: NYSE
$
77.11
+0.10
+0.13%
Volume: 11.96M
April 29, 2014 4:00p
P/E Ratio
47.83
Dividend Yield
4.93%
Market Cap
$98.94 billion
Rev. per Employee
$507,450
/quotes/zigman/244926/realtime
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UK:AZN
Astrazeneca PLC
UK
: U.K.: London
4,632.50
p
-34.00
-0.73%
Volume: 7.41M
April 29, 2014 5:06p
P/E Ratio
44.08
Dividend Yield
5.04%
Market Cap
£58.87 billion
Rev. per Employee
£314,498
/quotes/zigman/238207/delayed/quotes/nls/pfe
Add to watchlist
PFE
Pfizer Inc.
US
: U.S.: NYSE
$
31.76
-0.28
-0.87%
Volume: 38.46M
April 29, 2014 4:00p
P/E Ratio
18.63
Dividend Yield
3.27%
Market Cap
$204.51 billion
Rev. per Employee
$663,887
/quotes/zigman/226981/delayed/quotes/nls/ben
Add to watchlist
BEN
Franklin Resources Inc.
US
: U.S.: NYSE
$
51.57
+0.10
+0.19%
Volume: 2.24M
April 29, 2014 4:03p
P/E Ratio
14.65
Dividend Yield
0.93%
Market Cap
$32.31 billion
Rev. per Employee
$922,511
/quotes/zigman/117103/delayed/quotes/nls/furx
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FURX
Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
US
: U.S.: Nasdaq
$
103.20
+0.15
+0.15%
Volume: 703,480
April 29, 2014 4:00p
P/E Ratio
N/A
Dividend Yield
N/A
Market Cap
$1.11 billion
Rev. per Employee
$2.96M
/quotes/zigman/226825/delayed/quotes/nls/frx
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FRX
Forest Laboratories Inc.
US
: U.S.: NYSE
$
89.73
+0.23
+0.26%
Volume: 1.69M
April 29, 2014 4:00p
P/E Ratio
152.08
Dividend Yield
N/A
Market Cap
$24.25 billion
Rev. per Employee
$580,767
/quotes/zigman/698029/realtime
Add to watchlist
GCM4
Gold – Electronic (COMEX) Jun 2014
US
: U.S.: Comex
$
1,294.30
-2.00
-0.15%
Volume: 4,855
April 29, 2014 11:11p
/quotes/zigman/2237082/realtime
Add to watchlist
CLM4
Crude Oil – Electronic (NYMEX) Jun 2014
US
: U.S.: Nymex
$
100.48
-0.80
-0.79%
Volume: 4,442
April 29, 2014 11:11p
Anora Mahmudova is a MarketWatch markets reporter based in New York.
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U.S. stocks end choppy trade higher – Market Snapshot – MarketWatch
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