Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Mid-Day Report: US Market Slumps As Greece And European Banks Head For More Trouble; Hot Stocks: HPQ, AAPL

A day after equities hit 13-months low, the US stock indexes slumped during the afternoon session as fear of Greece weighed heavily on the market. Emerging banking crisis in Europe further dented the confidence of investors during the session.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 2.03 percent or 216.79 points to trade at 10,438.51. The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. composite index fell 1.39 percent or 32.58 points to trade at 2,303.25. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 2.13 percent or 23.46 points to trade at 1,075.77. The New York Stock Exchange composite index slipped 2.17 percent or 142.17 points to trade at 6,431.58.

Hot Stocks of the Day: HPQ, NRG, AMED, GTIV, AAPL

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) acquired nearly 87.3 percent of the outstanding shares of British software maker Autonomy Corp., effectively giving it control of the company.?Shares of Hewlett-Packard were down 0.27 percent or 6 cents to trade at $22.14.

NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) again revised its 2011 financial forecast, this time lowering its estimate for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization on an adjusted basis. As revised, the leading power distributor sees adjusted EBITDA in a range of nearly $1.78 billion, to $1.85 billion, down from an August forecast of $1.9 billion to $2 billion.?It also lowered annual forecasts for cash flow from operations and free cash flow before growth investments. Shares slipped 5.42 percent or $1.08 to trade at $18.85.

Shares of Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) tumbled 16.72 percent or $2.24 to trade at $11.16, and shares of Gentiva Health Services Inc. (Nasdaq: GTIV) slumped 17.39 percent or 64 cents to trade at $3.04 after the US Senate Finance Committee released a staff report highlighting tactics used by major for-profit home health companies in gaming Medicare.

Apple Inc. Nasdaq: ! AAPL) is expected to release its next generation iPhone today.

Shares were down 0.49 percent or $1.85 to trade at $372.75.

Currencies and Commodities:

In the world of currency, the US dollar added 0.13 percent against the Japanese yen and 0.05 percent against the euro. However, the dollar lost 0.47 percent against the British pound.

Commodities traded in a negative note during the mid-day session with oil losing 2.58 percent to trade at $75.61 per barrel. Gold prices were down 0.19 percent to trade at $1,652.80 per ounce. Among major indices, the DJ-UBS Commodity slipped 1.33 percent, and the Reuters-Jeffries CRB fell 0.90 percent.

Global Market:

Both the European and Asian markets traded in a losing note for the second successive day amidst rising fears on Greece debt crisis and banking trouble in Europe. Germany's DAX lost 3.81 percent or 205.09 points to 5,171.61. France's CAC 40 fell 3.72 percent or 108.95 points to 2,817.88. Great Britain's FTSE 100 was down 3.27 percent or 165.84 points to 4,909.66.

In the Asian markets, India's BSE 30 closed with losses of 1.77 percent, or 286.59 points, at 15,864.86. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed lower by 1.05 percent, or 89.36 points, at 8,456.12 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed lower by 3.40 percent, or 571.88 points, at 16,250.27.

Sector Scan:

For the second successive day, the oil and gas sector emerged as the market's worst performing sector by the afternoon session after losing 2.64 percent in the session. Among major movers in the sector, SPDR Series Trust SPDR Oil & Gas Equipment & Services (NYSEArca: XES) lost 3.26 percent or 87 cents to trade at $25.78. SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production (AMEX: XOP) was down 4.48 percent or $1.79 to trade at $38.20. Among major stocks, shares of BP Plc (NYSE: ! BP) slip ped 4.49 percent or $1.58 to trade at $33.64. Shares of SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SD) lost 8.18 percent or 41 cents to trade at $4.60. Shares of Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE: RDS-B) were down 2.86 percent or $1.72 to trade at $58.46.

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