Stocks opened in positive territory following the better than expected earnings release from Boeing (BA), which lifted the plane maker's shares and took the Dow with it. The early move was not able to hold and once the averages crossed into negative territory, they picked up downside momentum. Adding to the market's already tense tenor was the news that the Manhattan offices of AT&T's (T) CNN were evacuated after a suspicious package was found containing an explosive device. Similar bombs were sent, and intercepted, in packages addressed to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., new home sales declined 5.5% to a 553,000 rate in September, which was weaker than the 625,000 home sales pace forecast. Markit's flash manufacturing PMI for October edged up 0.3 points to 55.9, while the services PMI climbed 1.2 points to 54.7 versus 53.5 in the prior month.
COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Boeing initially had a strong positive reaction to the company's headline earnings beat and guidance hike, but the stock came off its highs as the broader market reversed during the plane maker's earnings call. Near noon, Boeing shares have turned back up to see a gain of about 3%...
Amid the bomb scare news at its recently-acquired CNN unit, AT&T also reported earnings that missed expectations. AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said he was "pleased with the progress made on a number of fronts in the third quarter" as the wireless and media company backed its FY18 adjusted EPS view at the high end of a $3.50 range. Near noon, AT&T shares have declined over 6%...
A number of Wall Street analysts cut their price target on Texas Instruments (TXN) shares and the stock slid 4% in response to the company's earnings report. Among them, RBC Capital's Amit Daryanani lowered his target on TI to $120 from $127, saying that while its Q3 earnings were better than expected, the Q4 guidance was "categorically below street" and "tempered buyside expectations".
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was AutoNation (AN), which rose 5% after BofA Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral. Also higher were Lithia Motors (LAD) and Trivago (TRVG), which each gained about 15% following their respective quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was DXC Technology (DXC), which slipped 19% after The Register reported that the general manager of the company's Americas region has been let go amid sales weakness in the geographic area. Also lower were Butterfield (NTB) and Noodles & Co. (NDLS), which fell 27% and 20%, respectively, after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 109.68, or 0.44%, to 25,081.75, the Nasdaq was down 105.70, or 1.42%, to 7,331.84, and the S&P 500 was down 23.09, or 0.84%, to 2,717.60.
Boeing
-1.91 (-0.52%)
AT&T
-1.02 (-3.20%)
Texas Instruments
+2.07 (+2.20%)
AutoNation
+2.2 (+5.43%)
Lithia & Driveway
+12.6 (+16.54%)
Trivago
+0.25 (+4.45%)
DXC Technology
-16.545 (-18.89%)
N.T. Butterfield
-13.475 (-26.29%)
Noodles & Company
-2.52 (-19.84%)