Stocks are little changed near midday as investors are waiting on the Fed. The major averages have been trading in very narrow ranges ahead of this afternoon's central bank announcement, with which the Federal Reserve is still expected to lower its benchmark rate despite this morning's report of a solid GDP growth figure. Following the Fed, the earnings engine will fire back up with Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) headlining another busy night for corporate reports.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the first reading of third quarter gross domestic product showed that growth slowed to a 1.9% pace in Q3, though that was well above the consensus estimate of 1.6% and almost matched the previous quarter's 2.0% growth rate. ADP reported private payrolls increased 125,000 in October, which was a little better than expected, but last month’s figure was revised downwards, confirming a slowing rate of job additions. The FOMC resumed its two-day meeting and its decision will be announced at 2 pm ET, with a 25 basis point rate cut viewed as all but certain.
TOP NEWS: General Electric (GE) shares are up 10% after the company beat third quarter earnings expectations and raised its 2019 cash flow forecast.
Shares of Mattel (MAT) are up 12% after the toymaker reported third quarter results, said a probe determined the company has certain material weaknesses, announced that its CFO will be leaving the company and issued fiscal year guidance.
Piper Jaffray analyst Harsh Kumar raised his price target for AMD (AMD) to $35, saying the company largely met September quarter estimates and "barely missed" December quarter revenue guidance. Loop Capital analyst Cody Acree upgraded AMD to Buy from Hold with a price target of $41, up from $32, despite his contention that the company's Q3 results were in-line and "unlikely" to get investors overly excited. He appears to be right about investors tepid view, as the stock is down 1% at midday.
In M&A news, Anixter (AXE) agreed with an affiliate of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice to be acquired in an all cash transaction valued at approximately $3.8B.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Green Dot (GDOT), which rose 15% after the company extended its relationship with Walmart (WMT) and announced that the two would form a fintech accelerator. In addition, Green Dot will issue Walmart 975,000 restricted shares as part of the agreements. Also higher were OneSpan (OSPN) and Tenable Holdings (TENB), which gained a respective 21% and 19% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Molina Healthcare (MOH), which fell 5% following news that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission has awarded some of its Medicaid services contracts for certain service areas to other providers. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were Yum Brands (YUM) and Tupperware (TUP), which fell 8% and 31%, respectively.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 26.12, or 0.10%, to 27,097.54, the Nasdaq was down 10.52, or 0.13%, to 8,266.33, and the S&P 500 was down 1.25, or 0.04%, to 3,035.64.
GE Aerospace
+0.93 (+10.29%)
Mattel
+1.37 (+12.95%)
AMD
-0.37 (-1.12%)
Anixter
+10.62 (+14.90%)
Green Dot
+3.88 (+15.06%)
Walmart
+0.34 (+0.29%)
OneSpan
+3.3 (+20.85%)
Tenable Holdings
+4.24 (+18.96%)
Molina Healthcare
-4.29 (-3.44%)
Tupperware Brands
-4.88 (-31.40%)
Yum! Brands
-9.31 (-8.49%)