Stocks took a pause after a strong rally yesterday as investors await news from the next round of trade talks between the U.S. and China. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He leads a delegation visiting Washington on Wednesday and headlines from the talks may make for a more volatile trading day tomorrow. While the S&P finished little changed, the Dow was weighed down by Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), which fell after the pharmacy operator reported worse than expected earnings and lowered its outlook.
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.
Meanwhile, during a press briefing at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump responded to a question on if closing the U.S. border with Mexico would hurt trade, stating that it would but adding that "security is more important than trade."
TOP NEWS: Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance dropped 12.8% after the Dow member reported worse than expected earnings and revenue in the second quarter and cut its outlook for the fiscal year.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) shares advanced just over 6% after it 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.
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 "time 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."
Meanwhile, PG&E (PCG) was in focus after Bloomberg reported that the bankrupt California power giant is near a deal with a group of investors that includes naming the outgoing CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Bill Johnson, as CEO and overhauling its board.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Sangamo (SGMO), which surged almost 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 10.5% after it agreed to be fully acquired by UGI Corporation (UGI). UGI shares were 7.3% lower after the news.
Among the notable losers was Meridian Bioscience (VIVO), which slid 19.3% after it provided lower than expected guidance for the second quarter and fiscal 2019. Also lower was Alcoa (AA), which fell 3.1% after Credit Suisse analyst Curt Woodworth downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform 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: The Dow fell 79.29, or 0.3%, to 26,179.13, the Nasdaq gained 19.78, or 0.25%, to 7,848.69, and the S&P 500 advanced 0.05, or 0.002%, to 2,867.24.
Walgreens Boots Alliance
-8.03 (-12.68%)
Delta Air Lines
+3.18 (+6.09%)
Boeing
-1 (-0.26%)
General Motors
+0.04 (+0.11%)
DowDuPont
-18.02 (-33.06%)
Dow Inc.
+2.71 (+5.09%)
PG&E
-0.34 (-1.89%)
Sangamo
+2.75 (+28.86%)
AmeriGas
+3.29 (+10.56%)
UGI Corporation
-4.06 (-7.33%)
Meridian Bioscience
-3.46 (-19.64%)
Alcoa
-0.895 (-3.04%)