The S&P 500 opened lower, but almost immediately began to pare its losses. Energy is by far the weakest group following a new report about higher output being planned from OPEC and Russia. There was little impact from the day's economic data as most investors seem to be looking toward the holiday weekend. The averages have moved in a narrow range on light volume and the news flow has been slow, keeping the averages little changed. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., durable goods orders fell 1.7% in April, versus a forecast for them to have fallen 1.3% from the prior month. New orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, which may offer a clearer view of underlying investment trends, rose 0.8%, topping the 0.4% rise in that figure that was expected. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for May declined to 98.0 in the final reading for the month, It had been expected to hold steady at 98.8. Front-month WTI futures have fallen over 3% and earlier in the session hit their lowest level seen since May 8 following a Reuters report that OPEC and Russia are considering easing their oil production cap by up to 1M barrels per day. COMPANY NEWS: Several retailers are moving in reaction to their earnings reports from last night and this morning. Gap's (GPS) earnings miss due to challenges at its namesake brand sent its shares down 13% while Foot Locker's (FL) better than expected results generated a 15% boost to the sneaker seller's stock... Shares of Herbalife Nutrition (HLF) fell 8% in morning trading after Icahn Enterprises (IEP) disclosed that it is tendering about a quarter of the shares it currently owns to be repurchased by the company. However, Carl Icahn, who will remain Herbalife's largest holder, said he believes "Herbalife's business is stable, the short-sellers have largely exited, and the company is well-positioned for the future." MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Quest Diagnostics (DGX), which gained nearly 6% after the company and UnitedHealthcare (UNH) announced a long-term strategic partnership. Also higher were a number of airline operators including American Airline (AAL), Southwest (LUV) and Delta (DAL), which traded up in response to the decline in oil prices. Among the noteworthy losers following their earnings reports were Ross Stores (ROST) and Autodesk (ADSK), which fell 7% and 5%, respectively. Also lower was Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), which slid 2% after the carmaker announced it is recalling an estimated 4.8M U.S.-market vehicles to upgrade software to address an "unlikely sequence of events" that would compromise cruise-control functionality. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow fell 73.66, or 0.30%, to 24,738.10, the Nasdaq gained 11.73, or 0.16%, to 7,436.16, and the S&P 500 declined 4.24, or 0.16%, to 2,723.52.
