After Market: China Contraction Fears Can't Hold Stocks Down

DailyFinance Staff
Updated

Worries over China's economic outlook put downward pressure on U.S. stocks in the early going Monday, but the market bounced back to close slightly higher. A survey of Chinese manufacturing showed that it contracted for the fourth straight month in April, and by more than had been expected.

Still, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) rose 17 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) added 3, and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) gained 14 points. The Dow had been down as much as 135 points this morning.

Target (TGT) fell 3½ percent after ousting its chairman and chief executive. He had been with the company for 35 years, but took the blame for a series of missteps including weakness with the retailer's online business and the massive data breach last year. Over the past year, Target shares have lost 15 percent.

JPMorgan (JPM) and Pfizer (PFE) also cut into the Dow's rise. JP Morgan fell 2½ percent on word that it expects revenue in the current period to fall by 20 percent from a year ago. That weighed on Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and other financial stocks.

Pfizer also fell 2½ percent as revenue fell short of expectations. The company continues to be hurt by patent expirations for key drugs.

%VIRTUAL-WSSCourseInline-876%On the upside, Apple (AAPL) gained 1½ percent. The stock is now trading above $600 a share for the first time in nearly a year-and-a-half. Over the past year, it's gained 33 percent, but is still well off its high of more than $700 a share.

BE Aerospace (BEAV) soared 9 percent. The company says it is "exploring alternatives" -- meaning it's putting itself on the auction block.

Biotechs Gilead Sciences (GILD), Biogen (BIIB), and Alexion (ALXN) each gained about 3 percent.

But fuel cell companies short-circuited on reports on heavy short-selling. Plug Power (PLUG) fell 10 percent and Ballard Power (BLDP) fell 7 percent.

Checking today's earnings-related movers:

  • Investors in chicken producer Tyson Foods (TSN) were squawking as the stock slid 10 percent after falling short of expectations.

  • Orbitz (OWW) fell 2½ percent after posting a quarterly loss.

  • And BroadSoft (BSFT) tumbled 20 percent on an earnings miss and a weak outlook.


Finally, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) gained 2 percent on a Raymond James "buy" rating.

And PerkinElmer (PKI), which provides technical services to the healthcare industry, rose 3-1/2 percent on a Janney Montgomery "buy" rating.

What to Watch Tuesday:

  • The Commerce Department releases international trade data for March at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

These major companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial statements:

  • Allstate (ALL)

  • DirecTV (DTV)

  • Electronic Arts (EA)

  • FireEye (FEYE)

  • First Solar (FSLR)

  • Groupon (GRPN)

  • Hillshire Brands (HSH)

  • Marathon Oil (MRO)

  • Martha Stewart Omnimedia (MSO)

  • Office Depot (ODP)

  • Papa John's International (PZZA)

  • TripAdvisor (TRIP)

  • UBS (UBS)

  • Walt Disney (DIS)

  • Whole Foods Market (WFM)

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.

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