On The Fly Closing Wrap
Stocks on Wall Street were lower after the latest FOMC statement, in which the Federal Reserve said it will continue to taper its pace of monthly asset purchases and keep benchmark interest rates near 0%. The averages moved modestly lower after the Fed's announcement, but moved to session lows during Fed Chair Janet Yellen's press conference, as investors attempted to read through Yellen's comments on when interest rates might be raised.
ECONOMIC EVENTS:
The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee said it will taper its monthly asset purchases by $10B per month while keeping benchmark interest rates between 0% and 0.25%. Fed Chair Janet Yellen, in her first press conference as head of the central bank, said she expects there to be about a six month gap between the end of the Fed's bond buying and an increase in interest rates. Yellen also said the Fed dropped its 6.5% unemployment threshold for interest rates in an effort to provide markets with more information regarding interest rates as unemployment nears that level. In the U.S., economic data announced earlier today showed the fourth quarter current account deficit narrowed to $81.1B, which was lower than expected and down from a revised Q3 deficit of $96.4B.
COMPANY NEWS:
Shipping giant FedEx (FDX) reported lower than expected third quarter revenue and earnings per share and lowered its fiscal 2014 outlook, but shares of the company finished the session little changed. Shares closed down 18c, or 0.13%, at $138.39 as the company attributed its weaker than expected results and its lowered outlook to the extreme winter weather...
Tech giant Oracle (ORCL) last night reported headline earnings and revenue for its last quarter that missed consensus expectations, sending shares lower after hours and early in today's session. A number of Wall Street analysts, however, saw the weakness in shares of Oracle as a buying opportunity and the stock rallied into positive territory in afternoon trade before closing down 29c, or 0.75%, at $38.55... The Department of Justice announced a deal with Toyota under which the company admitted that it misled U.S. consumers about two unintended acceleration issues with its vehicles. Toyota agreed to pay a $1.2B financial penalty, which is the largest fine of its kind ever imposed on an auto maker.
MAJOR MOVERS:
Among the notable gainers was Horizon Pharma (HZNP), up $1.34, or 9.13%, to $16.02 after agreeing to buy Vidara Therapeutics through a reverse merger for stock and cash valued at about $660M to create a new company that will be organized under the laws of Ireland.
Also higher was First Solar (FSLR), which advanced $11.84, or 20.57%, to $69.40 after the company gave an upbeat earnings outlook for fiscal 2015, though the company provided a tepid 2014 earnings outlook that missed consensus estimates. First Solar (FSLR) also announced a partnership with GE’s (GE) Power Conversion business to develop a more cost effective and productive utility-scale solar power plant design.
Another company in the solar power industry, Solar City (SCTY), fell $4.40, or 5.71%, to $72.70 after that company last night reported earnings that beat estimates but said certain previous financial statements should not be relied on.
Also lower was social network operator Renren (RENN), down 37c, or 9.81%, to $3.40 after its headline earnings beat the consensus forecast, but that was primarily due to a gain from the deconsolidation of its subsidiaries.
INDEXES: The Dow was down 114.02, or 0.7%, to 16,222.17, the Nasdaq was down 25.71, or 0.59%, to 4,307.60, and the S&P 500 was down 11.48, or 0.61%, to 1,860.77 |
