The major averages largely spent the morning consolidating as investors await news from the ongoing trade negotiations between the U.S. and China and take a breather following big gains yesterday that were driven by better purchasing and production data at home and in China.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., durable goods orders dropped 1.6% in February, which was nearly in-line with the decline that was expected. Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft slipped 0.1% in February.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) have plunged 12% after the Dow member reported worse than expected earnings and revenue in the second quarter and cut its outlook for the fiscal year. Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Stefano Pessina said the market challenges and macro trends the company has been discussing "for some time" accelerated in Q2, "resulting in the most difficult quarter we have had since the formation of Walgreens Boots Alliance."
Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported that its March traffic grew 5.3% and its capacity grew 5.4%, leading the airline to raise its forecast for adjusted earnings per share in the first quarter to 85c-95c from 70c-90c. Delta shares responded to the guidance hike by advancing 7%.
Last night, Boeing (BA) confirmed that it intends to submit a proposed software upgrade for the grounded 737 MAX in "the coming weeks" after the planemaker had previously said it planned to deliver the fix for government approval by last week. The company's confirmation came after the FAA announced that "ime is needed for additional work by Boeing, "as the result of an ongoing review of the 737 MAX Flight Control System to ensure that Boeing has identified and appropriately addressed all pertinent issues."
General Motors (GM) reported that it delivered 665,840 vehicles in the first quarter of 2019, down 7.0% compared to the first quarter of last year.
DowDuPont (DWDP) announced that it has completed the separation of its Materials Science Division through the spin-off of Dow Inc. (DOW), which has begun "regular way" trading on the NYSE under the symbol "DOW."
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Sangamo (SGMO), which surged 29% after announcing, with Pfizer (PFE), interim data from the Phase 1/2 Alta study evaluating investigational SB-525 gene therapy for severe hemophilia A. Also higher was AmeriGas (APU), which gained 11% after it agreed to be fully acquired by UGI Corporation (UGI). UGI shares were 7% lower after the news.
Among the notable losers was Meridian Bioscience (VIVO), which slid 15% after it provided lower than expected guidance for the second quarter and fiscal 2019. Also lower was Alcoa (AA), which fell 3% after Credit Suisse analyst Curt Woodworth downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperfrom as he shifts his valuation framework to focus on "owned" EBITDA and free cash flow on a blended 2019/20 basis to account for the shifting fortunes between refining and smelting.
INDEXES: Near midday,
the Dow was down 83.11, or 0.32%, to 26,175.31 , the Nasdaq was up 6.83, or 0.09%, to 7,835.74 , and the S&P 500 was down 1.54, or 0.05%, to 2,865.65 .
Walgreens Boots Alliance
-7.6 (-12.00%)
Boeing
+0.67 (+0.17%)
Delta Air Lines
+3.51 (+6.73%)
General Motors
-0.05 (-0.13%)
DowDuPont
-17.76 (-32.58%)
Dow Inc.
+2.68 (+5.03%)
Sangamo
+2.8 (+29.38%)
Pfizer
+0.15 (+0.35%)
AmeriGas
+3.5 (+11.24%)
UGI Corporation
-3.79 (-6.84%)
Meridian Bioscience
-2.77 (-15.72%)
Alcoa
-0.745 (-2.53%)