Stocks opened in negative territory and saw their best levels of the session shortly after the open. There has been little in the way of positive news and the Nasdaq has led on the downside as Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) see additional pressure. Oil prices have also lost some ground, with WTI crude now just above $56 a barrel.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the NAHB housing market index fell 8 points to 60 in November.
COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Apple have been under pressure, falling over 3% after The Wall Street Journal said that the company has cut production orders for all three iPhone models launched in September due to lower than expected demand, echoing other recent reports.
Meanwhile, Facebook is down 5% after the company was the subject of a negative Journal article following the critical New York Times report last week. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told his top lieutenants earlier this year that the social media company was "at war" and he planned to lead Facebook accordingly, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new approach has led to unprecedented turmoil at Facebook, causing several key executives to depart from the company, as well as created tensions with COO Sheryl Sandberg, according to the report.
Nissan (NSANY) ackowledged that the company has been conducting an internal investigation over the past several months regarding Chairman Carlos Ghosn and director Greg Kelly based on a whistleblower report. The investigation showed that both Ghosn and Kelly have been innaccurately reporting figures in order to reduce the disclosed amount of Ghosn's compensation. The company also uncovered "numerous other significant acts of misconduct" by Ghosn, such as personal use of company assets, and will propose to the Nissan Board of Directors to promptly remove Ghosn from his position as Chairman, Nissan announced.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Resolute Energy (REN), which rose 15% after the company agreed to be acquired by Cimarex Energy (XEC) for $35 per share. Also higher was NIO Inc. (NIO), which gained 11% after the Chinese electric carmaker was mentioned positively by Citron Research, which put a $12 short-term price target on the stock.
Among the notable losers was Colfax (CFX), which fell 16% after it agreed to acquire DJO Global from private equity funds managed by Blackstone (BX) for $3.15B in cash. Also lower was Spectrum Brands (SPB), which dropped 21% after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 325.22, or 1.28%, to 25,088.00, the Nasdaq was down 160.97, or 2.22%, to 7,086.90, and the S&P 500 was down 35.00, or 1.28%, to 2,701.27.
Apple
-6.84 (-3.54%)
Ticker changed to META
-6.36 (-4.56%)
Nissan
+ (+0.00%)
Resolute Energy
+4.49 (+14.72%)
Cimarex Energy
+0.27 (+0.30%)
Nio
+0.9 (+12.53%)
Colfax
-4.33 (-15.46%)
Blackstone
-0.61 (-1.88%)
Spectrum Brands
-12.11 (-20.40%)