After Market: Record-Stopping Session as Stocks End Mixed
Wall Street takes a tiny breather after the Dow and S&P hit new records but more M&A action keeps things interesting.
It's no surprise that after a nice run up in the markets, investors decided to engage in some good ol' profit taking.
The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) closed 10 points lower -- in the final few seconds of trading the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) popped into positive territory gaining half a point and the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) was down less than a point.
This quarter is already the largest for mergers and acquisitions since the heady days of 2007 and here's what's going on this merger Monday.
%VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%General Electric (GE) overcame its last hurdle to buy the energy assets of France's Alstom with which it will be joining in a series of joint ventures. GE's stock was one of the biggest laggards on the Dow, falling 1 percent.
Integrys Energy (TEG) was one of the day's biggest gainers rallying on news Wisconsin Energy (WEC) would pay $5.7 billion to acquire the company. Integrys was up 12 percent while Wisconsin Energy was down 3.5 percent.
Central Garden & Pet Co. (CENT) also had a good day up 6.5 percent on reports of a $1.1 billion buyout offer from Harbinger Group (HRG). And both Oracle (ORCL) and Micros Systems (MCRS) rose as Oracle agreed to acquire Micros for $5.3 billion. Oracle ended higher by half a percent while Micros was up more than 3 percent.
Lululemon Athletica (LULU) bounced back a bit up 2.5 percent on reports the company's founder who gave up his chairman seat last month is pushing for more influence. The stock has been hurt by product problems and management concerns. It is down 30 percent since the beginning of this year.
Housing stocks also got a boost from new data showing existing home sales rose 4.9 percent last May. Beazer Homes USA (BZH) was up 3 percent. PulteGroup (PHM) gained more than 1 percent and Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV) and Toll Brothers (TOL) were also higher.
AbbVie (ABBV) was also in the green up less than 1 percent after lifting its earnings guidance. But chemical company FMC Corp. (FMC) was one of the day's biggest losers down almost 5 percent after lowering its earnings guidance for the second quarter and full year.
And both Allergan (AGN) and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) traded lower after Allergan rejected Valeant's $53 billion bid saying it was "grossly inadequate."
-Produced by Karina Huber.
What to Watch Tuesday:
Standard & Poor's releases the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices for April at 9 a.m. Eastern time.
At 10 a.m., the Commerce Department releases new home sales for May, and the Conference Board releases the Consumer Confidence Index for June.
These major companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial statements:
